(Credits: Far Out / Ron Rafferty)
Sun 21 December 2025 16:45, UK
Leonardo DiCaprio has never strayed into musical territory, but it’s not for lack of trying, because in the 1990s, he auditioned for the role of Christian in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, and despite having worked with the director on Romeo + Juliet only a few years before, he didn’t get the part.
He later attributed this failure to his atrocious singing voice, which is probably why we haven’t seen him in any musicals before or since. Then again, an atrocious singing voice hasn’t stopped other actors from taking the plunge and inflicting it on audiences, and Russell Crowe in Les Misérables is the most obvious example.
While Pierce Brosnan can also be called out for Mama Mia!, he looks like he’s really trying, so it’s hard to fault him. DiCaprio has chosen to keep his distance and conquer every other realm of cinema except the superhero genre, and for that, he is truly one of the greats.
Though he may not mess around with making music on or off screen, DiCaprio’s appreciation for the medium runs deep. In an interview with Time in 2025, the One Battle After Another star rattled off some of his favourite musicians and proved that while he may like his women to be under the age of 30, he prefers his musicians to be on the other end of the age spectrum.
For starters, he loves classic blues, specifically, “a lot of blind guys.” Blind Willie McTell, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, and Blind Blake all made his list of favourites, as did Stevie Wonder.
He also name-checked the pre-doo-wop vocal group the Ink Spots, which reached the peak of their fame in the 1930s and ‘40s, as well as their contemporaries, The Mills Brothers. Johnny Mercer, the composer behind such classic songs as ‘Moon River’ and ‘Autumn Leaves’ also made the cut.
There were two other artists he mentioned who need no introduction: the pioneering jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and the R&B legend Al Green. Overall, it’s a list that is notably old school. The youngest person he mentioned is Stevie Wonder, who is closing in on 80.
DiCaprio didn’t say whether he uses music to prepare for roles, the way some actors do, but he did elaborate on what he loves about the vocalists he chose, “I like that sort of World War II–era harmony… It keeps me calm and chill.”
It really does beg the question, though: does he only listen to pre-21st-century artists? There is something charmingly old-fashioned about that, especially from a celebrity who is famous (or notorious) for being one of Hollywood’s pre-eminent pleasure seekers. It’s a bit incongruous to imagine the Revenant star listening to Blind Willie Johnson as he lounges on Jeff Bezos’s yacht or humming pleasantly to the Mills Brothers as he and the girlfriend half his age breeze in and out of designer stores in Paris.
To each their own.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s 10 favourite musicians:Blind Willie McTell Blind Lemon Jefferson Blind Willie Johnson Blind Blake The Ink SpotsThe Mills BrothersJohnny MercerDjango ReinhardtAl GreenStevie Wonder
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