She’s put a spell on us. Nina Simone is the new queen of Desert Island Discs after castaways chose her songs more than any other artist in 2022.
The American jazz singer and pianist is the first black person to become a year’s most selected artist in eight decades of the BBC’s radio show, analysis of more than 3,200 episodes by the Guardian reveals. Guests from John Legend to Adele and the UN under secretary general, Winnie Byanyima, chose her tunes last year, helping Simone, a performer of “reckless, blazing dignity” according to the Guardian’s jazz critic, keep classical music off the top spot.
