Picking your favourite songs is never easy, and it is harder still when a frontman is asked for the best of his own band.
But Jeff Lynne nonetheless provided his fans with nine of his favourite Electric Light Orchestra songs. The veteran frontman who had to cancel his retirement show at BST Hyde Park confirmed there were nine songs from the ELO discography he would consider his personal favourites. With plenty of songs to choose from, Lynne managed to narrow it down to the best nine from the band’s hits, and a few newer songs made it through too. Lynne, who says he can “remember” writing the words to Mr. Blue Sky in a chalet in Switzerland, also shared how he felt in the lead up to ELO’s second reunion at Hyde Park in 2014.
Though the band were meant to play a farewell show at Hyde Park in 2025, the date fell through after Lynne had to pull out due to medical issues. A statement released at the time reads: “Jeff Lynne is heartbroken to report that he will not be able to perform at tomorrow’s BST Hyde Park show.
“Jeff has been battling a systemic infection and is currently in the care of a team of doctors who have advised him that performing is simply not possible at this time nor will he be able to reschedule. The legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff’s mind today – and while he is so sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time.”
But years before the retirement tour was scrapped, Lynne offered his nine favourite songs from ELO. The list can be found below.
- Showdown
- Evil Woman
- Telephone Line
- Turn to Stone
- Mr. Blue Sky
- Don’t Bring Me Down
- All Over the World
- When I Was a Boy
- Love and Rain
Lynne would share how he wrote Mr. Blue Sky, saying it was his “most well-known song.” He said: “I suppose this is my most well-known song. Everybody tells me something different about it. It’s even got crazy appeal to kids since it’s like a nursery rhyme.
“I remember writing the words down. I was at a chalet in the mountains of Switzerland, and it was all misty and cloudy all the way around. I didn’t see any countryside for the first four days or so, and then everything cleared, and there was this enormous view forever, and the sky was blue.”
Lynne also said he was not wholly convinced by a reunion show at Hyde Park, but was won over once he began playing. He said: “I had all these negative thoughts before agreeing to play Hyde Park last year, but the crowd just went bananas all the way through. They loved every minute of it. It was the best show I’d ever been involved with up until that point.”
