‘I love the whole crooner vibe’: Aston Merrygold’s honest playlist

As told to Rich Pelley
·2 min read

The first song I remember hearing
Music and Me – from Michael Jackson’s third album of the same name – isn’t one of his best known. But it sticks out as the first song I remember thinking: “Woah! This is a song!” when I was about four or five.

The first record I bought
I got 8701 by Usher from HMV with my hard-earned paper round money that I did from a little local newsagent on my bike along three or four streets in Peterborough. I was very careful that the papers were properly delivered, so I didn’t just chuck them on the doorstep. When my pay went up to £11, I thought: “I’ve made it! I’ve gone past the £10 mark!”

The song I do at karaoke
My Girl by the Temptations, but the Jackson 5 version, which has an extra build out of the middle eight into the last verse that no one knows. Everyone says: “I like that bit. Have you added it yourself?” so I always get good prop.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
I love the whole crooner vibe, so Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra is no problem.

The best song to play at a party
Turn Up the Music by Chris Brown makes sense at any party. When it comes on, my friends will say: “Here he goes, he’s on one.”

The song I secretly like, but tell everyone I hate
About Damn Time by Lizzo annoyed me so much at first that I hated it. Then it was such a hit on TikTok, I couldn’t get away from it. Now I sing it nonstop.

The song I can no longer listen to
When I was Robin on The Masked Singer, I sang Can’t Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake. My kids watch that bit over and over because they like the bit where I’m finally unmasked. Now, they play it all day, every day. They ask Alexa: “Play Can’t Stop the Feeling! by Aston Merrygold,” and because that version doesn’t exist, they have to settle for Justin Timberlake.

The best song to have sex to
Peak (Fed Up) by RAAHiiM is an unbelievable slow jam, perfect for when you’re in the mooooood.

The song that changed my life
Mad Love by Jackie’s Boy, because that’s what I proposed to. What did she say? Yes. Luckily!

The song that gets me up in the morning
If our two little monkeys [Aston’s sons, aged four and two] haven’t got bored of playing Justin Timberlake, they’ll be playing Good Mood by Adam Levine, the theme tune to the Paw Patrol movie.

The song I want played at my funeral
I feel we need to get some JLS in there. So let’s go for Everybody in Love.

Aston Merrygold is on tour 20 to 28 October.

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