A collection of Cillian Murphy’s favourite songs
Since his breakthrough performance in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later over two decades ago, Cillian Murphy has become one of the biggest names in acting. Later, Murphy honed his skills with an iconic performance as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders and a series of collaborations with beloved director Christopher Nolan. After appearing in The Dark Knight, Inception, and Dunkirk, he now takes on the starring role of the eponymous Oppenheimer in one of the most anticipated films of the year.
Alongside the Irish actor’s love for cinema, he also harbours a passion for music. In his youth, Murphy sang and played guitar in bands, even meeting his wife at one of his gigs in the mid-1990s. His most promising band was The Sons of Mr Green Genes, named after the Frank Zappa song, which featured Murphy and his brother Páidi. Acid Jazz Records even contacted the duo to offer them a deal, but they declined.
Though Murphy’s gigging days are behind him, music remains a huge part of the actor’s life. During an interview with the Sunday Independent Life Magazine, he stated: “The only extravagant thing about my lifestyle is my stereo system, buying music and going to gigs.” He still plays and writes alone and with friends and was even featured on a recent single by The Coral.
Expectedly, for someone so well-versed in music, Murphy’s taste is varied. Though he presents on the alternative station BBC Radio 6, his taste stretches beyond dad rock. From the early synth-pop of Christine and the Queens to fellow Irish performer Van Morrison, Murphy has littered his interviews and radio shows with wide-spanning music recommendations. We’ve collated a number of tracks he’s shared his love for throughout the years.
Murphy once awarded the title of his favourite band to Radiohead, naming ‘No Surprises’ as the song he wishes he’d written in an interview with NME. He states: “I think they’re the biggest band, who became the biggest band in the world without wanting to be the biggest band in the world. They’re probably my favourite band.”
Murphy also once noted his love for the contemporary Irish band Fontaines D.C. On one of his shows for the BBC, he stated, “I’ve been playing a lot of Irish music, but I am Irish, and there is a great explosion of new Irish music!” He names ‘Liberty Belle’ as one of his favourite tracks from their 2019 debut album Dogrel, but adds, “Every single tune, they’re relentlessly themselves.”
Murphy also shared his love for rapper Kendrick Lamar, noting that DAMN was the first album his 11-year-old son ever purchased. Murphy’s own was The Final Countdown by Europe: “I’m not ashamed of it; it’s a great riff. But Kendrick Lamar… Look, I think he tips it.”
Ranging from Beatles classics to contemporary rap and 2000s indie, check out our collated list of Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy’s favourite songs below.
Cillian Murphy’s favourite songs:
- Christine and the Queens – ‘Tilted’
- Elbow – ‘Fly Boy Blue / Lunette’
- Europe – ‘The Final Countdown’
- Fleetwood Mac – ‘Man of the World’
- Fontaines D.C. – ‘Liberty Belle’
- Jackson C. Frank – ‘Blues Run the Game’
- John Lennon – ‘God’
- Kendrick Lamar – ‘YAH’
- Low – ‘Always Trying to Work It Out’
- Marvin Pontiac – ‘Small Car’
- Massive Attack – ‘Hymn of the Big Wheel’
- Paul McCartney – ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’
- Radiohead – ‘Daydreaming’
- Radiohead – ‘No Surprises’
- Stevie Wonder – ‘Sugar’
- The Band – ‘The Weight’
- The Beatles – ‘Love Me Do’
- The Kinks – ‘You Really Got Me’
- The Strokes – ‘Someday’
- The Velvet Underground – ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’
- Van Morrison – ‘Sweet Thing’
