Skip to content

Coronation official playlist picks golden oldies

PA The BeatlesPA
The Beatles kick off the Coronation playlist, with the message Come Together

The Beatles, David Bowie, Tom Jones and the Spice Girls are included on an official government Coronation playlist, published on Spotify.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has chosen 27 tracks as a suggested street party soundtrack.

Picked by the DCMS without any external input, the Coronation party selection initially featured 28 - but a Dizzee Rascal track quickly disappeared.

The grime artist was convicted last year of assaulting his former partner.

"A track featuring Dizzee Rascal was included in error - and as soon as this was identified, it was removed," a DCMS spokeswoman said.

King Charles III will be crowned on Saturday, 6 May, alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort, who has been a longstanding campaigner against domestic violence.

The playlist published on Monday seems to nod more towards the golden oldies or, as the DCMS suggests, "classics".

The singalong choice begins with The Beatles and the message Come Together, followed by Boney M's Daddy Cool.

Reuters Emeli SandeReuters
Emeli Sande is among the official picks for a Coronation party

The party playlist includes:

  • The Kinks: Waterloo Sunset
  • David Bowie: Let's Dance
  • Madness: Our House
  • Kate Bush: Running Up That Hill
  • Grace Jones: Slave to the Rhythm
  • The Proclaimers: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
  • Spice Girls: Say You'll Be There
  • Tom Jones: Green Green Grass Of Home
  • Emeli Sande: Starlight
  • George Ezra: Dance All Over Me
  • Harry Styles: Treat People With Kindness

A spokeswoman said the playlist had been selected to "celebrate British and Commonwealth artists ahead of the upcoming Coronation".

The selected songs appear on a new website with information about marking the Coronation.

It includes recipe ideas for parties, including Ken Hom's Coronation lamb and Nadiya Hussain's Coronation aubergine. Coronation chicken was invented for Queen Elizabeth's coronation, in 1953.

Street parties

Details have begun to emerge about events planned for the Coronation long weekend.

This will include traditional sights such as the carriage procession and appearances on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

But there will be no lighting of beacons, ending a tradition from previous jubilees and coronations.

The Coronation service, at Westminster Abbey, is expected to be more diverse and shorter than the previous three-hour ceremony, in 1953.

On 7 May, there will be a concert and lightshow at Windsor Castle and street parties during the day.

The extra bank holiday, on 8 May, will highlight local volunteering projects.