Did the Titanic's band continue to play as the ship went under?

Wallace Henry Hartley and his eight-man band on the Titanic

Yes. 33-year-old Wallace Henry Hartley, a violinist, was the bandleader on the Titanic. Hartley (left) had a fiancée in Boston Spa, near Wetherby in Yorkshire, and he had spent time with her before leaving on the Titanic

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Wallace Henry Hartley

After the ship struck an iceberg, Wallace Hartley assembled his eight-man band, and they eventually ended up on the Boat Deck near the entrance to the Grand Staircase. There, they played ragtime and waltzes.

Specifically, survivors reported them playing "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "In the Shadows". No one is certain what the last song was that the band played as the ship went down.

Newspapers reported that it was "Nearer, My God, To Thee" while some survivors said the tune was "Song d'Automne". All of the band members perished in the Titanic sinking. Wallace Hartley's body was recovered on May 4, 1912, by the cable ship Mackay-Bennett.

Wallace Henry Hartley funeral procession

Thousands of mourners lined the streets during his funeral procession in Colne, Lancashire, north-west of England. Jonathan Evans Jones, the actor who portrayed Wallace Hartley in James Cameron's Titanic movie, is a professional violinist.