‘I don’t care what they play at my funeral. I’m not going to be there’: Ross Kemp’s honest playlist

The first song I remember hearing
My mum had Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet on LP. I can remember hearing Habanera: L’Amour Est un Oiseau Rebelle, but apparently I took the record off the record player and smashed it, which might have said something about my musical taste at the time.

The first single I bought
Something Better Change by the Stranglers on seven-inch.

The song that is my karaoke go-to
I sang L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole at my wedding with a full band. It was a bit off the cuff, but I’d had a few glasses of wine. Don’t worry. I’m not going to sing it to you right now.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
I suppose I inexplicably know the lyrics to Happy Birthday, but doesn’t everybody? I definitely know all the lyrics to Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles.

The best song to play at a party
Rock the Casbah by the Clash always gets people going.

The song I stream the most
I can play anything by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong to my children and also their grandparents, my mum and dad. I’m sick of my dad saying: “They don’t sing like that these days.”

The song I can’t help singing
Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears. Particularly when I’m in the car.

The song that I secretly like, but tell everyone I hate
Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin.

The song I can no longer listen to
Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day was played at a lot of the funerals of the boys that died when I went out on my tour to Afghanistan [for 2008 documentary series Ross Kemp in Afghanistan], because the tour ends in September. I think the original lyrics are about puberty and losing your virginity, but they’ve taken on a totally different meaning for the guys in Afghanistan. I remember going to a dreadful memorial for a guy who’d been blown up on a trip that I was on. So I never want to hear that song again.

The song I wish I had written
Hallelujah.

The song I want play at my funeral
I don’t care, because I’m not going to be there.

Ross Kemp returns to EastEnders as Grant Mitchell to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the soap in February.