THE UK has been asked to belt out Neil Diamond’s track Sweet Caroline to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The tune was written in 1969 and released in the UK in 1971 - selling more than 1.2 million copies and becoming an anthem in discos across the country.
However, in Scottish football circles the song has become known as a favourite of the Rangers supporters where it has courted controversy with some fans adding an anti-catholic line to one of the breaks.
And in June 2021 it was reported that a video of the Rangers football team and backroom staff had been doctored to include the offending sectarian line.
The song has also been a long-time favourite of followers of the Northern Ireland football team.
The request to have it sung was made by Radio 2 DJ host Zoe Ball who has asked that people up and down the UK to go into the streets on June 5 to sing the tune.
The audience for Ball’s breakfast show voted for the “uplifting, happy” song as it beat out contenders like Paul McCartney’s We All Stand Together and We Are The Champions by Queen.
Ball described Sweet Caroline during her morning show on Tuesday as a “song of togetherness”, adding that she hoped that around 10 million people would join in the singalong.
“We’re hoping also that loads of grassroots music groups and choirs and school bands and brass bands will learn the song and perform it too,” Ball said.
“We really want to encourage the country to all come together.”
The campaign to get the UK to sing the tune was in collaboration with the Together Coalition, which was behind Thank You Day back in 2021 to celebrate those who had helped the country during the pandemic.
The event will be on June 5, the final day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
