Imelda Staunton: What song would you like played at your funeral?

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Imelda Staunton said elsewhere, not written here

I like to live in the moment.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 June 2013 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 178 →

Vicky McClure English actress

Definitely a Carpenters track.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 March 2018 source ↗

John Waters American filmmaker

Don't Play Me Cheap, sung by Tina Turner when she was still with Ike.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 September 2008 source ↗

Sananda Maitreya Singer and songwriter

As a native-derived person, we don’t believe in death. Death is a western, fear-based concept. We believe that an eternal spirit is housed into a temporary vehicle, and when that vehicle no longer becomes tenable to inhabit, we just move on. If I had to play music, I’d insist on Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.

Recorded The Guardian, Honest playlist, The Guardian, 26 October 2025 source ↗

Ed Harris American actor and director