To some folks, it might seem like England looks at the United States as the spoiled child who left home. We didn’t like the rules we were being made to follow, so we just up and moved out and formed our own country. That doesn’t mean the Queen can’t love a good dose of American rock and roll music, though.
At 91 years old, you would think Queen Elizabeth II of England would listen to albums by marching bands or classical music composers on an old-fashioned record player. Well, that is definitely not the case. Her Royal Majesty has an old-style iPod resting on an end table in her personal quarters and you might be surprised at what she has loaded on it.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward recently released a new book entitled “My Husband and I” which revealed just what the Queen likes to jam to when she gets some free time. Her favorite song is “California Girls” by America’s band, The Beach Boys. She is also partial to other rock artists like Elton John.
Seward told Vogue Magazine, “The Queen is a big fan of musicals, traditional hymns, and Scottish ballads, and even the Beach Boys’s songs, especially ‘California Girls.’”
"Whether or not she has much time to listen to music on her iPod I am not sure, but I rather doubt it," she added.
It really should come as no surprise to people that the Queen has heard of and enjoys the music of The Beach Boys. In the 1960s and 1970s, some of the band's most well-attended shows were in England and the UK. They had several hits songs there, even when their popularity started waning here in the U.S. A live album entitled "Live in London" was recorded at Finsbury Park Astoria in 1968.
The Beach Boys have become known as ambassadors of America over the years. They've played shows at 4th of July celebrations in Washington D.C. and in front of the White House for a few different presidents. Their first concert was in front of 500,000 people in 1980. In 2017, they performed on national television at the White House for "A Capitol Fourth" broadcast by PBS and seen by literally millions.
Both The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson and his solo band still sell out concerts in London and the surrounding areas. Wilson just performed to a sold-out crowd at the Eventim Apollo in August. The Beach Boys played London's Royal Albert Hall two nights in a row on May 17th and 18th in 2017.
Beach Boy lead singer and co-founder Mike Love got wind of the Queen’s favorite song and replied via Twitter. He first posted a link to an article by The Sun with the headline, "This is the Queen’s favourite song… and it’s a Beach Boys classic."
“Well we are a fan of the Queen!” Love then exclaimed.
Co-founder Brian Wilson also seemed equally excited and reposted the article on his Facebook page.
Wilson and Love co-wrote "California Girls" in 1965. It was a single for The Beach Boys's album "Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)" and reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles (Official Charts Company) chart. Queen Elizabeth II was around 39 years old at the time, which was still a little older than the teenage target market the song was aimed at.