The stars choose their best-loved childhood tunes

ED SHEERAN Van Morrison and The Chieftains: Carrickfergus (1988)

“I can’t remember how old I was when I first heard this track – it was just always played throughout my childhood.

“We lived in Yorkshire, and my parents would commute the fouror five-hour drive to London, with me sitting on the back seat. Van Morrison’s album Irish Heartbeat was pretty much the only tape cassette that we had – that and The Beatles. This is the song that I remember, and it takes me back to that specific moment sitting on the back seat.”

MARK RONSON

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five: The Message (1982)

“It has really specific memories from my childhood for me.

“My dad was a fanatic about rap and soul – he would blast this song and my sisters and I would go nuts, treating my parents’ bed like a trampoline and jumping on it for the whole duration of the song, rapping along to every word – there’s something about the era of old skool rap that is easy for a kid to learn. It was more than just music and a song we like, it was the family coming together.”

PALOMA FAITH

Tracy Chapman: Why (1988)

“The memories I get from this track are of road-trips with my mum and my stepdad. We would always have that album in the car and that track was particularly poignant for me because my mum – who’s a caring, compassionate, empathetic person – used to like songs with a political tinge; she was quite involved in politics. It asked lots of questions about why things are happening, actually still relevant today, as human beings tend to make the same mistakes over and over again.

The song reminds me of being quite small, laying back on the back seat and really wanting to know all the words off by heart.”

ELTON JOHN Doris Day: The Deadwood Stage (1953)

“I had to have a tooth out at my local dentist and in those days they either just pulled it out straight or you could have a bit of gas, so the only way I was going to do it was if my mum bought that record for me after. So I had my tooth out, by gas, and we got on the bus to Norwood Hills and the hole was pouring blood and we went into the record store and we bought The Deadwood Stage.

And I clutched it, I loved it so much, I couldn’t wait to get home and I played it and I played it and I played it and I played it.”

EMELI SANDÉ

Mariah Carey: Hero (1993)

“My dad introduced me to Mariah Carey and her music when I was about seven years old. I remember this song specifically really giving me strength and empowering me to be who I was. I grew up in a village in Scotland, and although I loved growing up there I did feel very different being the only black person in school. Mariah Carey often talks about being mixed race, so for me it was having someone who understood. Just having that encouragement was important. Her voice cuts through so much that it feels like she is speaking to you.”

PAUL WELLER

The Kinks: Waterloo Sunset (1967)

“Maybe it’s a question of selective memory, but I remember it being a nice summer. Waterloo Sunset came out in May, which is the same month as my birthday – I would have been nine. It’s caught up in happy childhood memories and sunshine and summer starting.”