‘Beyoncé’s Crazy in Love makes you move your body’: Gloria Gaynor Honest playlist | Music

The first song I liked
I grew up in Newark, New Jersey, with five brothers and one sister, so there was always music in the house. I remember my mother singing Willow Weep for Me when I was five or six years old. There was something about the sadness in it that really touched me.

The first single I bought
I heard Why Do Fools Fall in Love by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers on the radio and bought it from a record store. I was singing in the balcony of our house when a neighbor leaned close to our house and asked: “Gloria, are you the one singing?” He thought it was the radio. That’s when I decided I was going to be a singer.

The song I make at karaoke
I’ve only done karaoke once – about 20 years ago, on my birthday. Someone encouraged me to get up and sing I Will Survive like I was drunk. I thought: if you do it, you can commit. So I did – and I nailed it.

I know every word of this song
Everything Hurts by Alicia Keys. I felt sorry for the inappropriate love in his words, having suffered the same feelings as a little girl.

The perfect song to play at a party
Crazy in Love by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z, because it’s a fun song that makes you want to move your body as soon as it comes on.

I can’t listen to that song anymore
Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel by Tavares, because my ex-husband used to sing me songs. Now I can’t listen to it without being reminded of him.

The best song to have sex with
Let’s Put It On by Marvin Gaye because it has a sexy groove, the right tempo, and the lyrics have the right vibe.

The song that changed my life
Never Can Say Goodbye was my first song, and it changed everything. Suddenly there were more shows, more audiences and the chance to travel the world. It took me from being a person with a dream to a person who was living it.

The song that wakes me up in the morning
Your Loyalty Is Great. It’s a traditional song, but I love Carrie Underwood’s song.

A song that makes me cry
Amazing Grace: my version is opening my last album. Every time I sing it touches something deep in my soul. It reminds me of how God’s grace has lifted me up in my life.

The song I want to be played at my funeral
A song I wrote called I Want to See You. It’s about reunion – seeing your loved ones again in heaven. That is the message I would like to leave.

Gloria Gaynor’s Notes Boogietown at Walton-on-Thames, on July 11.