• Paul McCartney, 83, revealed on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years that Prince recorded a cover of the Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road” — the 1970 Let It Be ballad — which McCartney didn’t learn about until after Prince’s 2016 death
• “I’m going to ask them [Prince’s estate]. I could make it into something really good,” McCartney said
• He praised Prince’s playing on the recording: “He plays some really good guitar on it” — and described Prince generally as “a wizard”
• The appearance was tied to McCartney’s new solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, during which he also discussed the artists who shaped him growing up in Liverpool

Paul McCartney found out Prince covered one of his songs — and he found out the way most people find things out: someone just told him.

The 83-year-old Beatle appeared on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years with host Vernon Kay this week, and in the course of the conversation he let slip an anecdote that raises a real question for Prince’s estate. McCartney said that after Prince’s death in 2016, someone mentioned to him that Prince had recorded a cover of “The Long and Winding Road” — the sweeping ballad McCartney wrote that closed out the Beatles’ 1970 Let It Be album.

“I was with some guy a couple of years ago, so it was after Prince had died, and this guy said, ‘Have you heard Prince do "Long and Winding Road"?'” McCartney recalled. “I said, ‘Well no, that’s one of my songs!'”

He’s heard it since. His verdict: “He plays some really good guitar on it.”

As for what happens next, McCartney was direct about his intentions: “I’m going to ask them,” he said of Prince’s estate. “I could make it into something really good.”

Prince’s vault at Paisley Park is famously enormous — thousands of recordings that may never see a commercial release. His estate has shared material selectively since his death, and any decision to put out the “Long and Winding Road” cover would be theirs to make. But McCartney’s public interest in the recording puts a new kind of pressure on the conversation.

During the same interview, McCartney was unambiguous about how he rates Prince as a musician. He called out Prince’s 1986 single “Kiss” as a personal favorite, praising the minimalism of the arrangement: “He took a lot from Hendrix, but he was a great player. It’s just so simple — again to pull that kind of thing off, you can do a kind of simple thing, and it can just sound simple but not great, but his sounds simply great. He’s a wizard.”

McCartney’s appearance on the show coincided with the release of his new solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, in which he traces the music of his Liverpool childhood and the path it took him from the Merseyside docks to global fame.

The post Paul McCartney Just Found Out Prince Covered His Song — and Wants to Release It appeared first on Cream.

• Paul McCartney shared a funny story about George Harrison getting shocked on a teenage hitchhiking trip to Wales
• The pair hitched a ride on a slow-moving electric milk float, and Harrison’s zipper made contact with the battery
• McCartney, 83, told the story on The Rest Is History podcast, hosted by Tom Holland
• The incident inspired a song on his upcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, out later this month
• Harrison’s widow Olivia remembers the story differently — and McCartney says that’s exactly the point

Paul McCartney has a lot of Beatles memories. But the one he shared on The Rest Is History podcast this week might be the most unexpectedly hilarious — and it involves a very slow vehicle, a very unfortunate zipper, and a very shocked George Harrison.

Speaking with host Tom Holland on the May 15 episode, McCartney looked back on a teenage hitchhiking trip the two took together while making their way toward Wales. Short on options, the young future rock legends accepted a ride on an electric milk float — one of those slow-rolling delivery vehicles that were a common sight on British streets at the time.

“Those were the only vehicles we knew that were electric, [and this one] went about four miles an hour,” McCartney said. “But it was a lift, so we were quite happy.”

The driver sat on one side. A large battery sat in the middle. And Harrison, unluckily, sat directly on top of it.

The Moment Everything Went Wrong

For a while, everything was fine. Then the metal zipper on the back pocket of Harrison’s jeans made contact with part of the battery.

“Bang! He jumps up,” McCartney recalled, mimicking Harrison’s yelp of “Ahhh!”

The result? What McCartney described as “a great big zip tattooed into his bum” — a temporary burn mark left behind by the jolt. The 83-year-old clearly still finds it funny decades later.

McCartney also mentioned that he recently brought the story up with Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison — and got a surprise. She remembered hearing the incident differently. In her version, it was McCartney who got shocked, not Harrison.

Rather than getting defensive about it, McCartney found the whole thing kind of beautiful. “I think it’s amazing the way memory does that. It can just morph,” he said.

A Story That Became a Song

The hitchhiking mishap didn’t just stay a dinner party anecdote. McCartney says it found its way into his music — specifically into a track on his upcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, due out later this month. It’s a reminder that for McCartney, life and songwriting have always been inseparable. Even a painful moment on a four-mile-an-hour milk truck can become something worth keeping.

Harrison, of course, went on to become one of the most beloved musicians of the 20th century alongside McCartney, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr in The Beatles. He died in November 2001. McCartney has said that a fir tree — a gift from Harrison — sits somewhere he sees it every day, a quiet, living reminder of his old friend.

It’s the kind of detail that makes a funny story feel like something more. Two teenage boys on a slow electric truck headed to Wales, not yet famous, just happy to have a ride — and one of them about to get the shock of his life.

The post Paul McCartney’s Wild Teen Hitchhiking Story About George Harrison appeared first on Cream.

• Paul McCartney appeared as musical guest on SNL’s Season 51 finale, hosted by Will Ferrell on May 16
• He performed three songs — a rare SNL privilege — including new single “Days We Left Behind” and Wings classic “Band on the Run”
• McCartney surprised the audience with a bonus “Coming Up” performance during the closing credits, with the cast dancing side-stage
• Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers played drums on both main-stage performances
• His new album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, drops May 29 — his 18th solo record

Paul McCartney didn’t just close out SNL’s Season 51 — he took it over. The Beatles legend returned to Studio 8H on Saturday night as musical guest for the Will Ferrell-hosted finale, delivering three full performances, sketch comedy, monologue time, and a surprise encore during the goodnights that nobody saw coming. He’s done SNL five times now. He keeps finding new ways to make it feel like the first.

His opening number was “Days We Left Behind,” the lead single from his upcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, out May 29. The song is reflective and a little bittersweet — somewhere between “Things We Said Today” and “Auld Lang Syne” — and it landed exactly the way you’d expect a Paul McCartney song about the passage of time to land when performed live by Paul McCartney. Emotional. Quietly devastating. Beautiful.

Then came the gut-punch.

Most people assumed the second slot would bring another new track. Instead, McCartney and his band launched into “Band on the Run” — the full, five-minute version of the 1974 Wings classic that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The audience audibly gasped. That sound — a room full of people catching their breath at once — is maybe the best review a song can get.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=BxHS7_YdEt0%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26enablejsapi%3D1

Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was on drums for both performances, which made the whole night feel like a bit of a rock-and-roll family reunion. Smith also appeared in Ferrell’s monologue, playing into the long-running joke about the two men’s uncanny resemblance to each other.

The Sketch, the Goodnights, and the Encore Nobody Expected

McCartney didn’t spend the rest of the night just watching from the wings. He showed up in a sketch alongside Ferrell and Marcello Hernández, playing mechanics who take advantage of a clueless Mikey Day — a bit that was considerably filthier than anything you’d expect from a knight of the British Empire. He was, by all accounts, very funny.

But the real moment came at the end. After Ferrell wrapped up the goodnights — thanking the night’s cameos, including Molly Shannon, Aziz Ansari, and Smith — he ushered McCartney back to the side stage. What followed wasn’t a wave and a bow. McCartney kicked into “Coming Up,” his 1980 Hot 100 No. 1, while the SNL cast danced around him in the wings. The closing credits rolled. Nobody left.

Reports from the room suggest the band kept going even after the cameras cut — playing at least two more songs for the studio audience once the broadcast ended. The man turns 84 next month. He outlasted the show.

It’s worth putting this in context: three songs is genuinely rare for an SNL musical guest. The standard is two. Lorne Michaels doesn’t hand out extra slots lightly, and giving McCartney the full five-minute “Band on the Run” — a song that would normally be considered too long for the format — says everything about where he sits in the SNL universe. This was his fifth appearance as musical guest, with previous slots in 1980, 1993, 2010, and 2012. He last performed on the show more than 13 years ago. Last year, he closed out SNL’s 50th anniversary special with a medley of the final three songs on Abbey Road.

Lorne knows what he has. And Saturday night, so did everyone watching.

The post Paul McCartney Closes SNL With Surprise Encore appeared first on Cream.

• Will Ferrell hosted the SNL Season 51 finale on May 16 — his sixth time hosting the show since leaving the cast in 2002.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith pulled off the opening monologue prank, impersonating Ferrell before the real host stormed the stage.
• Paul McCartney served as musical guest, performed three songs including new track “Days We Left Behind,” and appeared in multiple sketches.
• Ferrell also played the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein in the cold open, reuniting with James Austin Johnson’s Trump.
• Molly Shannon made a surprise cameo, and Chad Smith stayed all night to play drums for McCartney.

Will Ferrell walked back into Studio 8H on Saturday night and reminded everyone exactly why he’s one of the best to ever do it. The SNL Season 51 finale was a full-on event — Paul McCartney performing three songs, a Chad Smith doppelganger prank that nearly hijacked the whole monologue, a Molly Shannon surprise, and Ferrell himself playing the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein before the opening credits even rolled. It was, by any measure, a hell of a way to close out a season.

This was Ferrell’s sixth time hosting since leaving the cast in 2002 — putting him in rarefied company alongside the likes of Tina Fey (also six) and Chevy Chase (eight). His last hosting appearance was back in 2019, though he turned up for the SNL 50th Anniversary Special earlier this year. He’s also promoting his upcoming Netflix comedy The Hawk, dropping July 16.

Chad Smith Steals the Stage Before Ferrell Even Gets There

Even eagle-eyed viewers might have needed a full minute to realize that the person striding out to deliver the opening monologue was not, in fact, Will Ferrell. It was Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith — dressed in the exact same gray suit, styled the same way — launching into a confident “I’m thrilled to be back hosting Saturday Night Live. I was a cast member here for seven years. And now I’m hosting for the sixth time! Amazing, it really feels like coming home.”

The audience caught on. And then the actual host came sprinting out.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? You’re not the host, I am!” Ferrell snapped. “He pushed me down backstage. And I fell, hard. Lorne had to give me mouth-to-mouth.”

After finally banishing Smith from the stage — “Don’t clap for him. He’s a bad guy” — Ferrell tried to do a hard reset, but admitted the vibe was off. He pivoted to audience questions, calling on “the cute one” in the front row. That turned out to be Paul McCartney, who looked up and asked, completely deadpan: “What do you think you’re doing, Chad?”

“Look, I understand your confusion,” Ferrell replied. “Me and Chad do look a lot alike. But I’m Will. I’m hosting tonight.”

McCartney wasn’t buying it. “Nice try, Chad. Get back. Get back behind the drums where you belong.”

Ferrell salvaged the bit by rattling off a murderer’s row of McCartney’s greatest hits — Beatles, Wings, solo — before noting that there are a few great songs the legend didn’t write. “The alphabet song. ‘Timber’ featuring Pitbull. All the Smash Mouth stuff.” McCartney’s only rebuttal: “Get your ass behind the drums, Chad.”

The Ferrell-Smith resemblance has been a running gag for over a decade. Ferrell once famously claimed Smith didn’t actually exist and was a character he invented — which eventually led to the two having a charity drum-off so Smith could prove he was real. Smith didn’t just show up for the monologue prank and leave, either — he stuck around all night, sitting in with the SNL band and playing drums for McCartney’s performances.

Epstein’s Ghost Visits the Oval Office in the Cold Open

Before any of that, Ferrell kicked off the night in the cold open as the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein — a surprise appearance that nobody saw coming. James Austin Johnson’s Trump had returned from a trip to China, drowsy enough to fall asleep on a gold bar (“that Switzerland gave me as a straight-up bribe”), when a cloudy vision of Epstein materialized beside him.

“Don’t worry, Donald, it’s me, your best friend, Jeffrey Epstein,” Ferrell’s ghost announced.

“Jeffrey, I thought you were dead,” Johnson’s Trump replied.

“I am, remember? I killed myself. Wink!”

The Epstein ghost caught Trump up on the afterlife — “really, really hot,” mahjong on Wednesdays with Stalin and John Wayne Gacy — before pivoting to show Trump a vision of the future. In it, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (Ashley Padilla) is hawking vacuums on the Home Shopping Network, while Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) and FBI Director Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari, back for his third consecutive episode) are co-hosting a bro podcast over a shared beer bong. When Trump bemoaned his approval rating stuck in the 30s, Epstein had a response: “The 30s? Gross, call me when it hits 17.”

The whole thing wrapped with Ferrell and Johnson doing a duet of “Just the Two of Us” before nearly kissing their way into the “Live from New York” announcement.

McCartney, Mechanics, and Molly Shannon

McCartney wasn’t just there to perform — he was woven into the night. The mechanic sketch, “What It Feels Like Talking to a Mechanic,” featured Ferrell as a fast-talking auto expert bamboozling a clueless couple (Mikey Day and Ashley Padilla) with a stream of nonsense jargon. The “sprog box” was shot. The “camber” was creating problems. The “sprunkbell” was “real tree-trunky.” A second specialist (Marcello Hernández) arrived and explained the car’s ailments in funny noises and partial Spanish before declaring, “You need a new trans person.” Then came chief mechanic Nigel — McCartney — who informed the couple that “your tipsy-whipsy’s all dangly-doodly, and the spiggly-wiggly’s gone crumpily. The whole car is knackered.” Plus, he noted, “the steering wheel’s on the wrong bloody side.” The payment options were “all the money now” or the husband could “pay in ass.” They chose the latter.

The night’s most visually impressive piece was a pre-filmed Lord of the Rings parody called “Bobbin’s Sacrifice” — complete with genuinely good special effects, orcs, elves, dwarves, and Ferrell as a pint-sized halfling who bravely volunteers to destroy a bridge separating the heroes from the monsters. Once outside the gates, Bobbin cheerfully switches sides, handing the orcs blueprints of the castle and giving away magic items he stole from his friends. It didn’t end well for Bobbin. But he went out with a song.

Ferrell also showed up in a sketch as a high school drama teacher — withholding the cast list for a production of Grease with sadistic glee — alongside a surprise appearance from former cast member Molly Shannon as a hilariously overdramatic choir teacher. The two had actually done an earlier version of this sketch together back in 2019, but it was cut for time. It finally made it to air.

Near the end of the night, Ferrell committed fully to a sketch about a “Nudeman” dad whose rear end is entirely exposed when he turns around to meet his daughter’s boyfriend. That’s the kind of 100% physical commitment that made Ferrell a legend in the first place — and a reminder that, six hosting appearances in, he hasn’t lost a step.

McCartney Closes the Night With a Surprise Third Song

McCartney performed a new song, “Days We Left Behind,” ahead of his 21st solo album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, due May 29. He also played “Band on the Run” and “Coming Up” during the closing credits. And then — after the goodnights were said — he surprised the audience with a third performance, with Chad Smith behind the kit where he belonged.

It was McCartney’s fifth time as SNL’s musical guest, and almost exactly 46 years to the day since his debut on the show in May 1980.

Weekend Update’s joke-off between Colin Jost and Michael Che was one of the weaker editions of the season — Jost reading racist jokes about Black vampires, Che making light of Michael Jackson molestation claims — but the segment was upstaged anyway by Jeremy Culhane’s return as Mr. On Blast, a recurring character with spectacularly bad hot takes (“AI? More like P.U.”) and genuinely great dance moves. This time, Mr. On Blast debuted a new catchphrase — “Devout!” — and brought out a group of bearded backup dancers called the Blast Boys. Culhane is a lock to be back next season.

Season 51 has been largely about building up newer talent — Ashley Padilla, Culhane, Marcello Hernández — and Ferrell gelled with all of them, doing exactly what a veteran host should do: make everyone around him look great. The season began back in October with Bad Bunny and Doja Cat. It ended with a Beatle, a ghost, and a rock star who happens to look exactly like the host.

SNL returns in the fall for Season 52.

The post Will Ferrell’s SNL Finale Had It All: McCartney, Chad Smith, and a Ghost appeared first on Cream.

• Will Ferrell hosts the SNL Season 51 finale tonight, May 16 — his sixth time in the hosting chair
• Paul McCartney returns as musical guest for the fifth time, nearly 46 years after his SNL debut on May 17, 1980
• McCartney is promoting his 21st solo album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, out May 29
• The promo clips have already gone viral, featuring dragon-slaying claims and a Despacito sing-along
• Watch live at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC, or stream free with a Peacock Premium trial

The Season 51 finale of Saturday Night Live doesn’t just have a legendary lineup — it has two of the most beloved returnees in the show’s history sharing a stage. Will Ferrell is back as host for the sixth time tonight, May 16, and Paul McCartney is stepping into Studio 8H as musical guest for the fifth time. If that wasn’t enough to get you to clear your Saturday night, the promo clips they shot together this week absolutely will.

Ferrell, who was a cast member from 1995 to 2002, is hosting to promote his upcoming Netflix comedy The Hawk. He most recently appeared on the show during the 50th anniversary special in February 2025 — the same night McCartney took the stage and performed “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End.” Tonight, they’re back together, and based on the promos, they haven’t lost a step.

The Promos Are Already a Highlight of the Season

In the new promo clips, Ferrell and current cast member Marcello Hernández join McCartney for what turns into one of the more absurd and charming bits the show has put out in years. Hernández asks McCartney what it’s like being a knight — Sir Paul was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for his services to music — and McCartney, without missing a beat, casually mentions that he once slayed a dragon.

McCartney also gets in a callback to last week’s Matt Damon Mother’s Day monologue, quipping that he’s a big fan of Hernández’s mom. The whole thing wraps up with the three of them attempting — and we use that word generously — to sing the Justin Bieber remix of “Despacito.”

“Sir Paul, everyone’s wondering what songs you’re going to play on Saturday,” Hernández says in the clip. McCartney’s response? “I won’t tell.” So Ferrell proposes a guess, and on the count of three, he and Hernández shout in unison: “‘Despacito’ remix featuring Justin Bieber!”

McCartney’s reaction: “Damn, how’d you know?”

A separate host-only promo earlier in the week leaned into Ferrell’s SNL legacy, calling back to his beloved “Get Off The Shed” sketch from the ’90s — and featured a joke about McCartney that involved Ferrell hitting him with a belt. Classic.

A Night of Milestone Returns

For McCartney, tonight is genuinely historic. Saturday will mark almost exactly 46 years since his SNL debut on May 17, 1980. He’s also performed on both the 40th and 50th anniversary specials, making him one of the show’s most enduring musical presences. His 21st studio album The Boys of Dungeon Lane is due May 29, and he previewed a new track called “Salesman Saint” on The Rest Is History podcast earlier this week.

Ferrell, meanwhile, is a six-time host — a club that’s not easy to get into. His connection to the show runs deep, and his chemistry with the current cast has always been easy and electric. The season that began with Bad Bunny and Doja Cat is ending on a very different, very legendary note.

Saturday Night Live airs tonight at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC. If you don’t have cable, you can stream it live or catch it the next morning with a Peacock Premium free trial (seven days, then $16.99/month). DIRECTV is another option, with a five-day free trial starting at $84.99/month. Season 52 returns to NBC this fall.

The post Will Ferrell & Paul McCartney Unite for SNL Season 51 Finale appeared first on Cream.

• Paul McCartney says he’s seen Bob Dylan live and couldn’t identify what songs he was playing
• McCartney specifically said he wanted to hear “Mr. Tambourine Man” but it never came
• He shared his philosophy of always giving fans the hits they paid to hear
• McCartney also revealed he refuses to take selfies with fans — and told Oprah the same

Paul McCartney has seen Bob Dylan in concert. More than once, actually. And he left both times with one lingering question: what exactly was that?

Speaking on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, McCartney — who at 83 is still one of the most enthusiastic live performers in the business — opened up about his complicated experience watching the 84-year-old Dylan do his thing on stage. And “his thing,” as anyone who’s bought a ticket to a Dylan show in the last decade knows, often involves radical reinventions of his own catalog that leave even devoted fans scratching their heads.

“I’ve been to see a couple of Bob’s shows and honestly, I couldn’t tell what song he was doing,” McCartney said plainly. “Now, that’s a bit much, because I know his stuff. And I get it if he doesn’t want to do ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ — maybe he’s fed up with it. But I would like to hear it. And I paid.”

That last line — And I paid — says everything. This isn’t just a casual observation from a music fan. It’s a philosophy McCartney has built his own touring career around.

Why McCartney Always Plays the Hits

McCartney’s approach to setlists is essentially the opposite of Dylan’s. He’s acutely aware that when someone buys a ticket to one of his shows, they’re not just showing up for the experience — they’re hoping to hear “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be” and “Blackbird.” He could easily fill a tour with deep cuts and album tracks. He’s got, as he puts it, “a lot of black holes.” But he doesn’t.

“They’ve paid a lot of money,” he said, and the sentiment clearly runs deep. He traced it back to his own childhood, remembering what it felt like to scrape together enough cash as a teenager to see a show.

“I remember as a kid saving up — a paper round and everything — to go to a Bill Haley concert. I knew what I wanted. I wanted him to do his hits. And if he got all clever on me, I’d let him indulge himself.”

That memory has stuck with him. The idea that someone might work a paper route, save up for weeks, and then spend a concert trying to decode what they’re listening to clearly doesn’t sit right with Macca.

It’s also worth knowing that McCartney has previously named “Mr. Tambourine Man” as one of the most significant songs in his life — alongside Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline” and the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me.” So when he says he wanted to hear it, he means it.

No Selfies — Not Even for Oprah

The Dylan chat wasn’t the only revealing moment from the podcast. McCartney also got into why he refuses to take photos with fans — a stance he’s apparently been holding firm on for years, even when the person asking is one of the most powerful women in the world.

“So if I meet someone, they’re reaching for their phone, and I say: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t do pictures.’ And that is radical these days,” he said. “I told that to Oprah — I’m name-dropping now — and she said: ‘You don’t do pictures?’ I said: ‘No.’ She said: ‘Why?’ I said: ‘I don’t want to.’ It’s as simple as that.”

But he does have a longer explanation, one involving a man, a beach in Saint-Tropez, and a monkey.

“Down on the south coast of France in Saint-Tropez, there’s a man on the beachfront who has a monkey, and you pay to have your photo taken with the monkey,” McCartney said. “I really do not want to feel like that monkey. And when I take a picture with someone, I do feel like him. I’m not me anymore — I’m suddenly something else.”

For McCartney, it comes back to staying grounded. “The minute I start thinking I’m something above myself, I won’t like me. It’s very important for me to just be me.” He’d rather spend a few real moments talking with a fan than become a prop in someone’s social media feed.

You can catch more from McCartney across his recent media appearances, and the full The Rest Is Entertainment episode is available wherever you get your podcasts.

The post Paul McCartney Baffled by Bob Dylan’s Live Shows appeared first on Cream.

• Paul McCartney, 83, says he refuses fan selfies because they make him feel “like a monkey” on display
• He revealed even Oprah Winfrey was stunned by his “radical” no-photos stance
• McCartney admitted he’s baffled by influencer culture and “people who don’t seem particularly talented” becoming famous
• The comments came ahead of his new album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, out May 29

Paul McCartney has been one of the most recognizable faces on the planet for over 60 years — and he’d very much like to keep some of that life to himself, thank you very much. The Beatles legend, 83, opened up on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast with hosts Richard Osman and Marina Hyde about why he flatly refuses to pose for fan photos, why influencer culture leaves him scratching his head, and what it actually feels like to be that famous for that long.

The selfie thing, he says, comes down to something deeply personal. “As time’s gone by, things have changed. Now — phones. So if I meet someone, they’re reaching for their phone, and I say: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t do pictures,'” McCartney explained. “And that is radical these days.”

Radical enough, apparently, to catch Oprah Winfrey off guard. “I told that to Oprah — I’m name-dropping now — and she said: ‘You don’t do pictures?’ I said: ‘No.’ She said: ‘Why?’ I said: ‘I don’t want to.’ It’s as simple as that.”

The Monkey on the Beach

But McCartney doesn’t just leave fans with a flat no. He goes deeper — and he’s got a whole story ready for the occasion. It involves a beach in Saint-Tropez, a stranger with a monkey, and a pay-per-photo setup that, to McCartney, captures exactly what he’s trying to avoid.

“I go into this long explanation about how, down on the south coast of France in Saint-Tropez, there’s a man on the beachfront who has a monkey, and you pay to have your photo taken with the monkey,” he said. “I really do not want to feel like that monkey. And when I take a picture with someone, I do feel like him. I’m not me anymore — I’m suddenly something else.”

It’s not about ego, he insists. It’s the opposite. “Something important to me, something related to your question about innocence and staying normal, would be lost. The minute I start thinking I’m something above myself, I won’t like me. It’s very important for me to just be me.”

He also pointed out that celebrity attitudes toward fame have shifted dramatically over the decades. When the Beatles first broke through, nobody was complaining about being recognized. “When you’re first famous, you love it — because it’s what you were trying to achieve. So something goes well, people in the street recognise you, and you love it. There was none of this, ‘Oh, people are bothering me’ — that’s a modern affliction. We loved it. And you learn to deal with it.”

On Influencers: “People Who Don’t Seem Particularly Talented”

From there, McCartney turned his attention to the broader cultural shift around fame — and he didn’t exactly hold back. Asked what baffles him most about the 21st century, he landed squarely on influencer culture.

“I think a lot of this influencer stuff — I just don’t really get it, because I’m not that generation,” he said. “But you can’t help seeing it. My wife will be looking at Instagram and showing me something, and then one of those will come on.”

“I think it’s funny — and I suppose it always happened — but people who don’t seem to be particularly talented are incredibly famous. Billions of hits and views.”

He caught himself mid-thought, aware of how it might land. “You’ve got to be careful about saying that, because it makes you sound very old-fashioned. Which I am.”

Fair enough. But it’s hard to argue with a man who co-wrote “Hey Jude.”

New Music, Old Memories

The podcast appearance comes as McCartney gears up to release The Boys of Dungeon Lane on May 29 — his first solo album in five years. The 14-track record draws on memories from his formative years in Liverpool, including early adventures with his late bandmates George Harrison and John Lennon, long before any of them were famous.

He named the album after Dungeon Lane, a spot near his childhood home on Forthlin Road in the Liverpool suburb of Speke. The first taste of the project arrived Friday with “Home To Us,” a duet with Sir Ringo Starr — the last surviving Beatle alongside McCartney — a collaboration that already feels like something fans will hold onto for a long time.

McCartney has described the inspiration behind the album simply: “a lot of memories of Liverpool.” Given everything he shared on the podcast — the desire to stay grounded, to stay himself, to not become the monkey on the beach — it sounds like the record is very much about remembering who he was before the world decided who he’d be.

The post Paul McCartney on Why He Refuses Fan Selfies appeared first on Cream.

• Apple Corps has announced 3 Savile Row in London will open as an official Beatles fan experience in 2027
• The seven-floor attraction will include never-before-seen archive material, a recreated recording studio, and access to the famous rooftop
• Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have both backed the project, with McCartney saying he recently visited the building
• The rooftop railings are reportedly unchanged from the day of the band’s final public performance on January 30, 1969
• The announcement comes as four Sam Mendes-directed Beatles biopics are in production for 2028

For decades, Beatles fans have made the pilgrimage to a quiet Mayfair townhouse, standing on the pavement outside, craning their necks up at the rooftop where it all ended. That’s about to change. Apple Corps has announced that 3 Savile Row — the legendary London building where the Fab Four recorded Let It Be and played their final public concert — will open to the public for the first time, as an official fan experience launching in 2027.

Titled “The Beatles at 3 Savile Row,” the ticketed attraction will span all seven floors of the building, offering access to never-before-seen archive material, rotating exhibitions, a recreated version of the basement recording studio used during the Let It Be sessions, and — most significantly — the rooftop itself, where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr played for 42 unannounced minutes on a blustery Thursday afternoon on January 30, 1969, before police pulled the plug on a noise complaint. (The band managed to plug back in and play “Get Back” one final time before it was over for good.)

“Every single day, fans are taking pictures of the outside of 3 Savile Row,” Apple Corps CEO Tom Greene said in the announcement. “But next year they can go in and explore all seven floors of the iconic building, including the rooftop where even the railings remain the same from that famous day in 1969.”

McCartney and Starr Give Their Blessing

Both living Beatles are on board. McCartney revealed he’d recently made a private visit to the building ahead of the announcement. “It was such a trip to get back to 3 Savile Row recently and have a look around,” he said. “There are so many special memories within the walls, not to mention the rooftop. The team have put together some really impressive plans and I’m excited for people to see it when it’s ready.”

Starr, characteristically, kept it short and perfect: “Wow, it’s like coming home.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the rooftop concert “one of the most iconic moments in music history” and said the attraction “will captivate Londoners and visitors from across the globe.” UK Creative Industries Minister Ian Murray also weighed in, noting — with an unavoidable Beatles pun — that it would allow people to “‘Come Together’ and experience the band like never before.”

A Building That Holds the Whole Story

For fans who know their Beatles history, 3 Savile Row carries an almost unbearable amount of weight. The building served as the headquarters for Apple Corps, the company the band founded, and its basement studio was where they gathered in early 1969 — already fracturing, already exhausted — to record what would become their final album. George Harrison famously told the camera during those sessions, “Maybe we should get a divorce.” The footage ended up in Peter Jackson’s acclaimed 2021 documentary series Get Back, which reframed those sessions for a new generation and helped spark renewed global fascination with the band.

Holly Tessler, a Beatles tourism expert at the University of Liverpool, told the New York Times that the address is already one of only two major Beatles landmarks in London — the other being the Abbey Road zebra crossing — but that until now, fans could only stand outside. “Very few people have been inside,” she said. “I’d love to see it.” She also noted that the discord surrounding the Let It Be era, far from being a deterrent, only deepens fan curiosity about that chapter of the band’s story.

Britain already has Beatles museums in Liverpool, but this will be the first officially licensed by Apple Corps — making it the definitive experience for anyone who wants to stand where the band stood on that final day. Lennon’s last words into the microphone that afternoon: “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we’ve passed the audition.”

The Beatles Moment Won’t Stop Coming

The timing couldn’t be more loaded. Director Sam Mendes is deep in production on four separate Beatles biopics — one for each band member — set for release in April 2028. It marks the first time Apple Corps has ever granted full music and life story rights to a scripted film. The cast is stacked: Harris Dickinson as Lennon, Barry Keoghan as Starr, Paul Mescal as McCartney, and Joseph Quinn as Harrison. Mendes himself visited Savile Row while researching the films and clearly felt it too.

“I’ve looked around a lot of Beatles sites in making these movies, but there is something special in the air at Savile Row,” he said. “How wonderful that fans will now have a chance to see it on screen and in person. To actually be on the rooftop where it happened.”

Meanwhile, McCartney and Starr recently released their first-ever duet, “Home to Us,” ahead of McCartney’s upcoming solo album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, due May 29. Starr dropped his own solo record, Long Long Road, in April. And at a recent intimate listening event at Abbey Road Studios — another address that needs no introduction — McCartney played songs from the new album and got reflective. “I still get a little bit emotional talking about John and George,” he said, looking around the studio. “This is where we worked.”

The building at 3 Savile Row is understood to be a long-term attraction, not a temporary installation — sitting just a short walk from Carnaby Street, another landmark of Swinging Sixties London. Specific ticket details and an opening date within 2027 have yet to be announced.

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• Apple Corps Ltd. is opening The Beatles at 3 Savile Row, the first official Beatles fan experience, in London in 2027.
• The seven-floor attraction will include never-before-seen archive material, a recreation of the original Let It Be studio, and access to the famous rooftop.
• Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have both shared reactions, with Starr calling it “like coming home.”
• The rooftop — where the band played their final public concert on Jan. 30, 1969 — still has its original railings intact.
• Four Beatles biopics are currently in production, making this a major moment for the band’s ongoing cultural resurgence.

Fifty-six years after John, Paul, George, and Ringo climbed onto a Mayfair rooftop and changed rock history forever, Beatles fans are finally getting inside the building. Apple Corps Ltd. announced Monday that it will open The Beatles at 3 Savile Row, the first official fan experience dedicated to the Fab Four, at the band’s historic London address in 2027.

The Mayfair location is about as sacred as Beatles geography gets. Number 3 Savile Row served as one of Apple Corps’ earliest headquarters in the 1960s, housed the studio where Let It Be was recorded, and — most famously — provided the rooftop stage for the band’s final public performance on January 30, 1969. That 42-minute concert, later immortalized in Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series Get Back, has become one of the most mythologized moments in music history.

The attraction will span all seven floors of the building, offering fans access to never-before-seen material from Apple Corps’ extensive archives, rotating exhibitions, a fan store, and a recreation of the original studio where Let It Be was laid down. The crown jewel, though, is the rooftop itself — and Apple Corps CEO Tom Greene made sure to note one remarkable detail: “The rooftop where even the railings remain the same from that famous day in 1969.”

“We’re thrilled to bring Apple Corps back to its spiritual home and give The Beatles fans something truly special,” Greene said. “Every single day, fans are taking pictures of the outside of 3 Savile Row — but next year they can go in and explore all seven floors of the iconic building.”

Paul and Ringo React

Both surviving Beatles have already been back to take a look around, and their reactions say everything.

“It was such a trip to get back to 3 Savile Row recently and have a look around,” Paul McCartney said in a statement. “There are so many special memories within the walls, not to mention the rooftop. The team have put together some really impressive plans and I’m excited for people to see it when it’s ready.”

Ringo Starr kept it simple: “Wow, it’s like coming home.”

What Happened on That Rooftop

For anyone who needs a refresher — or just wants to feel it again — the January 1969 rooftop concert was equal parts spontaneous and historic. The Beatles, joined by keyboardist Billy Preston, played five new songs including “Get Back,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” and “Dig a Pony” as crowds gathered on the streets below and on neighboring rooftops. London’s Metropolitan Police eventually showed up in response to noise complaints and asked the band to turn it down. They obliged — briefly — then plugged back in to play “Get Back” one more time.

John Lennon’s last words into the microphone that day: “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we’ve passed the audition.”

The concert appeared in the band’s 1970 documentary film Let It Be, and Jackson’s eight-hour Get Back series gave a whole new generation a front-row seat to the moment.

The Bigger Picture for Beatles Fans

The timing couldn’t be better. Interest in the Beatles is running at a fever pitch right now — four separate biopics are currently in production, and the 2023 AI-assisted release of “Now and Then” — billed as the band’s final song — reminded the world just how alive this catalog still feels.

The UK government has thrown its support behind the project too. Creative industries minister Ian Murray called it “huge news for fans of The Beatles across, not just the UK, but the world,” adding that it would “truly allow people to ‘Come Together’ and experience the band like never before at an iconic venue which holds so much history.”

The building sits just a short walk from Carnaby Street, another landmark of Swinging Sixties London, and Apple Corps has confirmed the attraction is planned as a long-term destination — not a limited run. An exact opening date hasn’t been set yet, but fans can sign up for updates at the official site.

Fifty-five years after those railings last shook with the sound of a Lennon guitar riff, they’re still standing. And soon, so will you — right next to them.

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