All The World Over, All We Really Want Is To Sing Like Old Black Men In The South

This phenomenon with the accent is particularly noticeable with someone like Paul McCartney, whose accent when he talks is nothing at all like his accent when he sings. It probably started as an effort to sound 'authentic' in an American rhythm-and-blues context. Now, it's impossible to undo:

The study, conducted by New Zealand researcher Andy Gibson from the Auckland University of Technology, examined why people pronounce words differently when they sing.

He studied three New Zealand singers, asking them to sing lyrics and then speak them.

"There were huge differences between the sung and spoken pronunciation of the same words," Mr Gibson said.

"Studies in the past have suggested that non-American singers willfully put on American accents, but my research suggests the opposite - that an American-influenced accent is the default when singing pop."

He added: "We do it automatically. It doesn't require any effort to sing with an American-influenced accent.

"The American accent doesn’t stick out in singing because we are so used to hearing it.”

The study suggested that we have more difficulty when we try to sing pop songs with our own natural accent - which could explain why famous British crooners including Mick Jagger and Amy Winehouse sound American when they sing.

“The American-influenced accent is automatic in the context of singing pop music, and it is used by people from all around the world," Mr Gibson said.