Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven (hymn)
Below we look at ten of the Queen's favourite songs. Among them is “Sing”, which was co-written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and performed by Barlow and the Commonwealth Band featuring the Military Wives. There are also two hymns on the list: “The Lord is My Shepherd” and “Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven”.
But who were her own favourite artists? Of all the paintings in her collection, it's said that her favourite was 'The Shipbuilder and his Wife', a 1633 masterpiece by the Dutch master Rembrandt.
The Lord's My Shepherd
As part of this, the Queen listed her ten favourite pieces of music. Two hymns featured in this list. One was 'Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven' mentioned above: the other was 'The Lord's My Shepherd'.
Cliff Richard, ABBA and Dame Vera Lynn... we revisit Queen Elizabeth II's favourite artists.
Much of the music he liked was guitar-oriented: his favourite artists at the time were the Who, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin. He was often self-deprecating about his skills on both instruments. However, Brian May states Mercury "had a wonderful touch on the piano.
Queen guitarist Brian May is a Beatles fan, which he has been frank about in several interviews. In a recent discussion, the Queen custodian reiterated his admiration for the band. “The Beatles were our bible,” May recalled. “Absolutely at every stage in their career and their music development, they were models.
The choir sang Like as the Hart, a setting of Psalm 42 to music specially commissioned for the funeral. The music was written by British composer Judith Weir, who holds the title of Master of the King's Music — a role within the royal household in which she composes music at the monarch's request.
Jewellery. Although her collection was vast, the Queen was rarely seen without her favourite three-strand pearl necklace, given to her by her beloved father, King George VI, who died in 1952.
Other interests. The Queen enjoyed outdoor life. As well as riding well into her 90s, she also took great pleasure walking in the countryside and spending time with her dogs. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh both loved Scottish country dancing.
John Lennon said The Beatles' fans should listen to Queen. In addition, he felt The Beatles' music should be consumed carefully. Notably, Freddie Mercury became close to one of the Fab Four.
Queen guitarist Brian May is unashamed to admit they were influenced by the band and revealed that one of their songs did sound similar to another Led Zeppelin track. In an interview with Total Guitar, Brian May recalled the first time he and Queen listened to Led Zeppelin.
It indicated the impact that John Lennon and his music had on people, even though Freddie had never met John in person.
He added: “Robert Plant is one of the most original vocalists of our time. He was always my favourite singer. And he's said nice things about me.” According to Queen guitarist Brian May, Mercury modelled himself on Plant and tried to emulate him when he took to the stage.
The long-awaited Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody, confirmed for release in Australia on November 1, uses real audio from the band's most classic performance – at the famous Live Aid concert. The greatest names were brought together on July 13 1985 by Bob Geldof to raise money for famine-struck Ethiopia.
Rami himself has revealed that he is lip-syncing, but it's not just Freddie's voice that we hear. "It is an amalgamation of a few voices," he told the Metro US. "But predominantly it is my hope and the hope of everyone that we will hear as much Freddie as possible. I think that is the goal for all of us."
Appearing on Yahoo Movies, Blessed said that Her Majesty told him her favourite movie was pulpy sci-fi classic Flash Gordon.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" topped the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks (plus another five weeks following Mercury's death in 1991) and remains the UK's third best-selling single of all time.
Freddie was obviously extremely talented with a 5 octave vocal range. Musically not one can touch him. Not only had this extreme range-so effortlessly floated from one end to the other.
The hymns that the Queen chose for her funeral are “The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended”, which is typically performed at Evensong, “The Lord's My Shepherd” and “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”.
During the ceremony, the congregation joined in singing three hymns; 'The day Thou gavest Lord is ended', 'The Lord's my Shepherd' and 'Love Divine, All Loves Excelling'.
Freddie Mercury, like many other musicians, held a deep admiration for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. The Beatles permanently altered the music industry in the 1960s and influenced many of the artists who came after them, Mercury included.