All vikisThe Lion King Soundtrack
Official: The album on Apple Music
The Lion King soundtrack (1994) in full, all 12 tracks from Circle of Life to Elton John's Can You Feel the Love Tonight, 46 minutes, each playing from its first second, under six measured highlights. Certified Diamond, it won the Academy Awards for both score and song.
We rate The Lion King soundtrack S tier, and we think it is the best-built album of the song-led ones here: five songs from the film, four pieces of Hans Zimmer's score in the middle, and Elton John's own versions of three songs to finish. Neither test of our rule is close. Diamond status, ten million units, came on Sep 13, 1995, little more than a year after the album appeared (RIAA, read Nov 11, 2026). And its songs have been on a stage for nearly three decades: the Broadway production, which opened on Nov 13, 1997, played its 10,000th performance on May 6, 2023 (BroadwayWorld, May 4, 2023).
This is Circle of Life, the first track, sung by Carmen Twillie with Lebo M. Walt Disney Records issued it on May 31, 1994, says Apple Music; the twelve uploads add up to 46 minutes 29 seconds.
Songs first, then the score
The songs are by Elton John and Tim Rice, sung on tracks 1 to 5 by the film's cast and on tracks 10 to 12 by John himself. Tracks 6 to 9, This Land, ...To Die For, Under the Stars and King of Pride Rock, are Zimmer's score, 16 minutes 57 seconds of it, a little over a third of the album; King of Pride Rock is the longest track at 5:59. The album won both music awards at the Oscars, Original Score for Zimmer and Original Song for Can You Feel the Love Tonight (oscars.org). That mix is why we file it with the song-led soundtracks: the songs lead, and the score is there to carry them.
Four weeks to No. 1
Billboard's chart for Jun 18, 1994 has it new at No. 13. Four weeks on, Jul 16, it led the list, and it was a month into that lead on Aug 6, 1994.
Highlights
Six climaxes, more than any other song-led album here, measured by Vi.ki on Nov 11, 2026 and not chosen by ear (the method). Four of them are in Zimmer's score tracks, which swell the way the orchestral scores on this viki do; Under the Stars has the biggest, 13.4 decibels above its middle. No entry of a voice or instrument was clear enough to keep.
All tracks
Listed as the album runs, from Universal Music Group's uploads, all twelve of them. I Just Can't Wait to Be King, as the cast sings it, is shortest at 2:51. Play opens each song's own video at 0:00.
Sources
- Gold and Platinum: The Lion King, RIAA, read Nov 11, 2026
- The Lion King to Play 10,000th Performance on Broadway This Saturday, BroadwayWorld, May 4, 2023
- The Lion King (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Apple Music, read Nov 11, 2026
- The 67th Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- Billboard 200, Billboard, chart dated Aug 6, 1994
- The Lion King, YouTube Music, read Nov 11, 2026
Moments
Circle of Life
Carmen Twillie - Topic
Can You Feel the Love Tonight
Joseph Williams - Topic
This Land
Hans Zimmer
...To Die For
Hans Zimmer
Under the Stars
Hans Zimmer
King of Pride Rock
Hans Zimmer
I Just Can't Wait to Be King
Jason Weaver - Topic
Be Prepared
Jeremy Irons - Topic
Hakuna Matata
Nathan Lane - Topic
Circle of Life
Elton John
I Just Can't Wait to Be King
Elton John
Can You Feel the Love Tonight (End Title)
Elton John
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