King Charles decided to do something with Apple Music called “The King’s Music Room.” It’s basically Charles sitting at a desk, listening to music and talking about music for Commonwealth Day. Is it really a podcast or is it more like a curated playlist? I’m struggling to describe what this is other than “an attempt to make Charles sound hip.” In any case, we now know that Charles enjoys Beyonce’s music. Or at least he enjoys one Beyonce song, “Crazy In Love.” Some highlights from his Apple Music thing:

The King, 76, shows off a somewhat eclectic mix of musical go-tos in The King’s Music Room, a show curated for Apple Music, that premieres on Mar. 10. Based around a Commonwealth theme, the music choices are Charles’ own, and listeners get a sense of both his enthusiasm for the music, and how, through his charming comments, he has a remarkably good radio voice.

Bob Marley & The Wailers — “Could You Be Loved” In the intro, Charles includes a rendition of the song played by the King’s Guard at Buckingham Palace, before playing the actual tune by late singer himself. Charles praises Marley’s “marvelous, infectious energy, but also his deep sincerity, and his profound concern for his community.”

Millie Small – “My Boy Lollipop” The Jamaican-born singer was one of those who came to the U.K. as part of the Windrush Generation of the late 1940s, and “whose gifts have so greatly enriched our country,” the King says.

Kylie Minogue’s version of “The Loco-Motion” This song, Charles says, “is music for dancing. Again, it has that infectious energy which makes it, I find, incredibly hard to sit still,” he adds. “There is such an irresistibly joyous feeling to that song.”

Al Bowlly – “The Very Thought Of You” The track is a song from the 1920s-1930s era that “reminds” Charles “of my much-loved grandmother, because she used to play these sorts of music a lot.” The royal adds that the tune “also never fails to lift my spirits.”

Daddy Lumba – “Mpempem Do Me” With a connection to Ghana, which Charles last visited in 2018, he says, “I found myself dancing along” to this track.

Davido – “KANTE” (feat. Fave) The King points out that this song “features lyrics in pidgin, which I love in all its forms, and in which I attempted to make a speech when I last visited Nigeria.” He adds, “I understand that, thanks to Afrobeats, it is becoming ever more popular around the world.”

Miriam Makeba – “The Click Song” Highlighting how the track is in the Xhosa language, Charles quips, “I shan’t try too much to pronounce the title, as it requires a great deal of practice!”

Jools Holland & Ruby Turner – “My Country Man” Holland is another British musician the royal has known for years, alongside the “unstoppable phenomenon” of soul singer Turner.

Anoushka Shankar – “Indian Summer” Charles says he likes the sitar playing in the song for being “deeply redolent of the ancient culture of India.”

Siti Nurhaliza – “Anta Permana” The royal celebrates how the Malaysian artist sings “about love that is stronger than time.”

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa – “E Te Iwi E (Call To The People)” The song holds special meaning to Charles, as the New Zealand opera great performed it at his wedding to the late Princess Diana.

Michael Bublé – “Haven’t Met You Yet” Bublé — who recently dined with Charles’ son Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Vancouver — is Charles’ pick to represent Commonwealth country Canada on the list.

Beyoncé – “Crazy In Love” (feat. Jay-Z) Charles thanks the musician for her work helping support the Prince’s, and now, the King’s Trust, before congratulating Beyoncé for winning her first album of the year award at the 2025 Grammys last month.

[From People]

It will be interesting to see if there are any follow-ups on this, including any talk of a “King Charles bump” for some of the artists who are not well-known to British or European audiences. As in, is there actually a bump, and do people really seek out certain music if King Charles recommends it? Or was this Charles pandering for Commonwealth Day and no one cares or pays any attention to it?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Apple Music, Avalon Red.