Paul McCartney’s new collaboration hits all the right notes
It took a long and winding road to get there, but Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones have finally decided to come together and collaborate for the group’s upcoming album.
After a rivalry that has played out over half a century, a Rolling Stones representative confirmed to CNN that the 80-year-old former Beatles member will play the bass “on just one RS track.”
Rumours had been circling that Ringo Starr would be recording on the album as well, but the CNN spokesperson denied the reports upon confirming there would be “no Ringo Starr at all.”
The news was met with a chorus of delight from fans on social media, though some had been speculating long before the confirmation came through.
“Dads everywhere, rejoice!” Tweeted Entertainment Tonight.
“Holy cow!” wrote one supporter, “this is a dream collaboration.”
“We love this!” another fan declared.
No further information is available for the as-of-yet unnamed album, and it will be the group’s first release since their drummer, Charlie Watts, passed away from throat cancer in 2021.
While to many it feels like just yesterday, it was in the 1960s that The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were two of the world’s most famous groups, setting the bar high for any and all that dreamed of following in their musical footsteps.
Six decades on, The Rolling Stones are still touring here, there, and everywhere, but The Beatles came to an end in 1970. John Lennon then died in 1980, and George Harrison later in 2001.
This isn’t the first time the music superstars have let it be to join forces and produce hits for the world to enjoy. Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote The Rolling Stones' ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, and the Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger dropped by the studio four years later when The Beatles recorded their hit ‘All You Need Is Love’.
According to Rolling Stone magazine, “Jagger was a semi-regular guest of honor at Beatles sessions: He also turned up for the mixing of Revolver and the recording of the orchestral section of ‘A Day in the Life’.”
With their collaborations in mind, it can be hard to imagine that the two groups were ever in competition. But any dissonance seems to have been minor, if their banter in recent interviews is anything to go by.
In a 2020 interview with Howard Stern, Paul stated his belief that the “Beatles were better.”
Mick Jagger responded to the comment in an interview of his own, stating that there was “obviously competition.”
And just one year later, while promoting his book The Lyrics, Paul noted that he believes the Stones to be a “blues cover band”, and that the Beatles’ “net was cast a bit wider”.
Wide enough, it seems, to take the steps to collaborate and give their fans some long awaited satisfaction.
Images: Getty