‘The best song to have sex to? All By Myself by Eric Carmen’: Derren Brown’s honest playlist

The first song I remember hearing
I Can Sing a Rainbow, on Listen With Mother, the BBC radio programme for children, which I listened to with my mother, so I certainly fell into that trap. It’s amazing how old-fashioned it seems now, like something from the war.

The first single I bought
I was a terrible shoplifter at 16, 17. I stopped nicking stuff when I set off the alarms at Harrods trying to walk out with a Luther Vandross cassette tape in my pocket.

The song I do at karaoke
I hate karaoke. The only time I did it was as part of this immersive theatre called You Me Bum Bum Train where you end up walking out on stage singing Mustang Sally by Wilson Pickett, which was strangely liberating.

The song I streamed the most
I listen to a lot of Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright’s new album, Folkocracy, when I paint. Not painting the wall! I paint portraits.

The song I secretly like but tell everyone I hate
My guilty pleasure is early Whitney Houston. I don’t drive, but my partner does, so I’ll stick on The Greatest Love of All and we’ll sing along at the top of our voices like a couple of gay men!

The song that changed my life
I also listen to the prelude to Bach’s Cello Suite in G Major when I paint. A friend played it a lot and I just thought it was amazing, which got me into Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which is extraordinarily touching and a real musical sweet spot for me.

The song I wish I had written
The Luckiest by Ben Folds is sad and sweet in a beautiful, slightly melancholy, way. I would love to have written that. Sometimes in my head, I pretend I have written it. When I go to the cinema, just before it starts, I’ll pretend I’ve written and directed the film, too. Doesn’t everybody do that?

The song that gets me up in the morning
I listen to a lot of Vivaldi’s Gloria on tour. If I wake up somewhere raining that doesn’t have a nice coffee shop, I’d put it on to massively lift the experience. I associate it with a burst of energy, waking up and loving life.

The best song to have sex to
All By Myself by Eric Carmen.

The song I want played in my funeral
I Got You (I Feel Good) by James Brown, just because I think it would be funny.

As told to Rich Pelley

Derren Brown’s Unbelievable is at London’s Criterion theatre to 7 January, then touring.. See unbelievablelive.com