Opera fans 'prefer magic mushrooms'

More than a quarter of classical music fans have tried cannabis while opera lovers prefer magic mushrooms.

They are among the findings of a new study of music tastes and lifestyles by researchers at the University of Leicester.

They discovered that fans of every style of music had taken drugs, with those who preferred DJ-based club music topping the list.

A quarter of classical music buffs have tried cannabis and 12.3 per cent of opera lovers had tried magic mushrooms.

The study also revealed that blues buffs are the most likely to have received a driving penalty.

More than 2,500 people were interviewed for the study, which is published in the scientific journal Psychology of Music.

Fans of musicals come out as the most mild-mannered group, with the lowest level of drug-taking and criminal acts.

But followers of hip hop and dance music are more likely to have had multiple sex partners over the last five years and were among the biggest drug-takers surveyed.

"It comes out in the study that, in these types of music, fans score worse in various behaviours, such as criminality, sexual promiscuity and drug use," said Dr Adrian North, who led the research.