‘I don’t know if that’s embarrassing or good!’: Ella Henderson’s Honest Playlist

She raps Nicki Minaj songs at karaoke and dances round her kitchen to Abba, but what makes the pop star turn off her stereo?

The first album I ever bought
I remember going into Woolworths and buying my first CD: a Destiny’s Child album, because I was obsessed with Beyoncé. It had all their hits. Remember the song Girl? I used to stand in the mirror and sing into a hairbrush and pretend to be Beyoncé, with Kelly and Michelle on either side of me.

***

The song that is my karaoke go-to
It depends on how much I’ve had to drink. If I’ve had quite a bit, I sometimes think I’m good at rapping (and I’m really not). My go-to song is Super Bass by Nicki Minaj. I don’t know if that’s embarrassing or good. But it was on the radio loads when I was younger. Now it just reminds me of being in my teens, so it’s a bit nostalgic – it feels young and carefree.

***

The song I’ve streamed the most
Last year Spotify told me that, embarrassingly, it was Let’s Go Home Together by me and Tom Grennan. Look, you’ve got to be your No 1 fan. I would have it playing on repeat in the background to get more streams. I definitely wasn’t sat back listening to myself.

***

The best song to play at a party
If I’m with the girls, Voulez-Vous by Abba – we all just go nuts around the kitchen island.

***

The song I want played at my funeral
I’d want a Fleetwood Mac theme: my go-to would probably be Landslide. I’d want the live version, which is really intimate. It’s a slow song but it doesn’t make me feel sad; it’s quite hopeful.

The song I can’t help singing
Crazy in Love by Beyoncé. I love this song, I know it lyric for lyric – even Jay-Z’s rap. It’s just one of my favourite songs of all time, in any setting, whether I’m at a party, on my own at home or in a club.

***

The song I’d have to get up to turn off
The only kind of music that I’m not keen on is really heavy metal rock music – like when you can’t hear what they’re saying. I’m all about lyrics. Something like Slipknot, I’d have to get up or change it over.

***

The song I secretly like but tell everybody I hate
The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman. The whole intro, Hugh Jackman – I love singing it really loud in the car.

***

The song that is my favourite
Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac. It just makes me so happy when I listen to it. You can’t not move to the groove of it, it’s such a chilled, happy song. If I was stuck on a desert island, I’d want that song to be on repeat.

Ella Henderson’s new album Everything I Didn’t Say is out on 11 March.

Contributor

As told to Elle Hunt

The GuardianTramp

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