THE family of the late Dame Vera Lynn say they are “thrilled” she has topped the charts two months after her death.
The Forces’ Sweetheart’s rendition of patriotic anthem Land of Hope and Glory occupied the top spot in online music store iTunes’ singles chart this week.
Daughter Virginia Lewis-Jones said her mother, who died at her Ditchling home aged 103 in June, would be “delighted” her song is at the top of the charts.
“We are absolutely thrilled that my mother has topped the iTunes charts,” she said.”She would be delighted that her recording of Land of Hope and Glory, which was in the Dutch charts for many weeks, is now in ours.
“Most of all, she would be so pleased to know that people are still enjoying her music and connecting with those powerful lyrics.”
Dame Vera’s cover of the song from her 1994 compilation album Vera Lynn Remembers: The Songs that Won World War Two sits at the top of the UK singles charts at the time of writing.
The patriotic anthem reached the number one spot on Tuesday, beating South Korean boy band BTS into second place.
The song’s renewed popularity comes after online outrage by some over the BBC’s decision to play instrumental versions of the song and fellow patriotic tune Rule, Britannia! at this year’s Last Night at the Proms concert.
Both anthems will once again be performed with lyrics once the coronavirus pandemic is over, the BBC said in a statement on Monday.
Critics say the song’s lyrics glorify colonialism.
“With much reduced musical forces and no live audience, the Proms will curate a concert that includes familiar, patriotic elements such as Jerusalem and the National Anthem,” a spokesman said.
On Tuesday actor Laurence Fox took offence to the move and called on followers on social media to “come together to get Dame Vera Lynn’s version of Land of Hope and Glory number one in the charts”.
“Would the BBC then have to play it? What a beautiful day that would be,” he said on Twitter.
Later that day Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle called on the BBC not to “overreact” to criticism of the song’s lyrics but called for a conversation on the topic.
“We mustn’t overreact. We’ll end up creating some fabricated culture war when there doesn’t need to be one,” he told The Argus.
Land of Hope and Glory was composed by Edward Elgar in 1901 as part of his Pomp and Circumstance military march.
A year later poet AC Benson wrote lyrics for the song.
It includes lines such as “Thine empire shall be strong” and “Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set”.
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