Rapper Tupac Shakur, legendary singer Shirley Bassey, and rockers Muse have been named as the Vatican's favorite artists.

The Roman Catholic institution, headed by Pope Benedict XVI, was asked to choose 12 tracks to form a playlist to help launch MySpace.com's new music service.

The eclectic list included works by Mozart and The Pope himself, who recently released an album, but also threw up surprise choices including Shakur's hit Changes and Muse's new song Uprising.

Bassey's After The Rain was included along with He Doesn't Know Why by Fleet Foxes, according to Allhiphop.com.

A statement from the Vatican reads, "The genres are very different from each other, but all these artists share the aim to reach the heart of good minded people."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)