Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney Reunite at Abbey Road to Honor 50th Anniversary of Beatles' Album

  

people.com
Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney Reunite at Abbey Road to Honor 50th Anniversary of Beatles' Album
Among the other celebrity guests at the anniversary party were Rocketman's Taron Egerton, Nile Rogers, and Sir Patrick Stewart
By Georgia Slater
September 27, 2019

The Beatles are back!

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band’s acclaimed Abbey Road album, band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr stepped out with their wives Thursday for a star-studded party held at Abbey Road Studios in London.

McCartney, 77, stayed casual in a navy denim jacket with a sweater underneath, black jeans and blue sneakers, while his wife, Nancy Shevell, 59, wore a cream satin blouse, jeans, and silver feather earrings.

Iconic drummer Starr, 79, opted for a navy blazer over a graphic tee, a black leather belt, and sneakers, accessorizing with thick-rimmed black glasses and a peace sign necklace. His wife, Barbara Bach, 72, looked stylish in a black jacket and black pants, with a statement necklace and matching earrings.

Both musicians walked in with big smiles, holding their wives close.

PHOTO : HEWITT / SPLASH

Among the other celebrity guests at the anniversary party were Rocketman‘s Taron Egerton, Nile Rogers, Sir Patrick Stewart, Martin Freeman, and late bandmate George Harrison‘s wife, Olivia Harrison.

Early August marked 50 years since the Beatles walked across Abbey Road for the now-iconic photograph that graces their 1969 album of the same name.

The image, taken by photographer Iain Macmillan, shows Harrison, McCartney, Starr and John Lennon posing on a crosswalk in London’s St. John’s Wood neighborhood on a street near the location of EMI Studios, where they recorded Abbey Road and most of their catalog.

PHOTO : AMAZON

The landmark recording space, which is still in use, was later renamed Abbey Road Studios.

Recently, Starr and McCartney teamed up to pay tribute to late bandmate Lennon.

The former Beatles collaborated on Starr’s upcoming album, What’s My Name, for a rendition of Lennon’s “Grow Old with Me.” The track was one of the final songs Lennon wrote before he was fatally shot in 1980. The original version was posthumously released on the album Milk and Honey in 1984.

For the new rendition, Starr sings and plays the drums with McCartney on bass and backing vocals. Eagles guitar legend Joe Walsh, who happens to be Starr’s brother-in-law, handles six-string duties.

The single marks the latest collaboration between the last two surviving members of the Fab Four. (Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.)

Starr revealed he still gets emotional when thinking about his late friend Lennon.

“The idea that John was talking about me in that time before he died, well, I’m an emotional person. I just loved this song. I sang it the best that I could. I do well up when I think of John this deeply,” he said in a statement.

“I’ve done my best. We’ve done our best,” Starr shared. “The other good thing is that I really wanted Paul to play on it, and he said yes. Paul came over and he played bass and sings a little bit on this with me. So John’s on it in a way. I’m on it and Paul’s on it.”

What’s My Name will be released on Oct. 25.

www.dailymail.co.uk
Paul McCartney, 77, enjoys a Beatles reunion with Ringo Starr, 79, as they arrive with their glamorous wives at famous Abbey Road studios for album's 50th Anniversary bash
º The Beatles held up traffic on August 8, 1969 by posing on the crossing outside their recording studio to capture the famous shot, taken by freelance photographer Iain Macmillan
º Abbey Road was the band's 11th album and the last to be recorded by all the members of the 'Fab Four' at the same time
º Relations between them were breaking down and their final record, Let It Be, was finished after they came in to record individually or in smaller groups 
º Ringo and Paul recently revealed they have joined forces to cover a song based on a lost demo that John Lennon had written prior to his death in 1980 
º The Beatles are the best-selling band in history, having sold more than 800m albums worldwide 
By CHARLOTTE DEAN 
FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED:  27 September 2019


They are two members of the best selling band of all time.

And Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr enjoyed a Beatles reunion on Thursday night, as they attended the Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Party, held at Abbey Road Studios. 

Music icon Paul, 77, opted for smart casual in a dark blue denim jacket as he arrived at the glitzy star-studded bash with his glamorous wife Nancy Shevell, 59.



Looking good: Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr enjoyed a Beatles reunion on Thursday night, as they attended Apple Corps Abbey Road Studio 50th Anniversary Party in London

While legendary drummer Ringo, 79, made his way to the event hand-in-hand with wife Barbara Bach, 72.


Paul and Ringo were joined by a group of star-studded pals as they celebrated the golden anniversary of their iconic Abbey Road record.

John, Paul, George Harrison and Ringo famously held up traffic on August 8, 1969 by posing on the crossing outside their recording studio to capture the famous shot, taken by freelance photographer Iain Macmillan. 


Hey Jude hitmaker Paul looked typically sharp in a navy shirt, layered with a cosy cardigan underneath and a pair of dark-coloured chinos.



Sweet: Paul sweetly wrapped his arm around Nancy as they posed for snaps together


Casual: Elsewhere, Ringo looked stylish rocked a graphic T-shirt with a pair of black trousers, which were belted around his waist with a black leather belt



Chic: The American native styled her look with a pair of navy sock boots, while accessorising with a pair of decorative beaded earrings

Meanwhile, businesswoman Nancy, 59, looked seriously chic in an ivory blouse which she wore with a pair of skinny black jeans. 

The American native styled her look with a pair of navy sock boots, while accessorising with a pair of decorative beaded earrings. 

Nancy wore her glossy brunette tresses in loose glamorous waves and accentuated her naturally striking looks with soft touches of make-up.

Elsewhere, Ringo looked stylish as he rocked a graphic T-shirt with a pair of black trousers, which were belted around his waist with a black leather belt.


He styled his look with a black satin jacket, while accessorising with a peace symbol necklace and a pair of rounded thickly-rimmed shades.


Smart: The Hey Jude hitmaker teamed his evening look with a navy shirt, layered with a cosy cardigan underneath and a pair of dark-coloured chinos


 Power couple: Barbara Bach looked equally glam in a structured black jacket, which she styled with a delicate pendant necklace and a pair of matching earrings


Smile for the camera! Nancy and Paul appeared the picture perfect couple as they posed for snaps


Heading home! Following the night's festivities Ringo jumped into a car and headed elsewhere


Barbara, who Ringo wed in 1981, looked equally glam in a structured black jacket, which she styled with a delicate pendant necklace and a pair of matching earrings.

The American actress wore her blonde locks in a bouncy blow dry, while sporting a neutral pallet of make-up and lashings of black eye-liner.

Other attendees at the star-studded bash included Nile Rogers and Taron Egerton. 

Earlier in the day Sir Patrick Stewart attended a celebration of the iconic album in Hollywood at Capitol Records Tower.




Abbey Road: Board of Public Works President Kevin James, Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell joined Patrick Stewart on a zebra crossing, similar to the one in the artwork on the front of the album .


Board of Public Works President Kevin James, Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell joined Patrick on a zebra crossing, similar to the one in the artwork on the front of the album.  

Abbey Road was the band's 11th album and the last to be recorded by all the members of the 'Fab Four' at the same time.

Relations between them were breaking down and their final record, Let It Be, was finished after they came in to record individually or in smaller groups.   

This comes as it was revealed Ringo and Paul have joined forces to cover a song based on a lost demo that John Lennon had written prior to his death.


The former Beatles member had written Grow Old With Me while in the studio for his final record Double Fantasy, which he made before he was shot dead outside his Manhattan apartment in 1980.



Peace out! Paul and Ringo were sharing peace and love as they made their exit from the bash


Bye! Ringo raised his arms in the air as he posed for the cameras while leaving

It was record producer Jack Douglas who informed the drummer of the track, and Ringo then asked Paul to play bass guitar.

Speaking about the recording process, Ringo said in a statement: 'Jack asked if I ever heard The Bermuda Tapes, John's demos from that time. And I had never heard all this.  

The idea that John was talking about me in that time before he died, well, I'm an emotional person.


'And I just loved this song. I sang it the best that I could. I do well up when I think of John this deeply. And I've done my best. We've done our best.'


Delighted: Olivia Harrison appeared delighted as she was spotted leaving Abbey Road Studios



Glowing: The widow of George Harrison was glowing as she made her getaway in a chauffeur driven car 

Ringo then went on to say that it wasn't a 'publicity stunt', but was 'just what I wanted', as he added: 'The strings that Jack arranged for this track, if you really listen, they do one line from Here Comes The Sun. So in a way, it's the four of us.'  

Gary Barlow recently interviewed Paul for BBC Radio 2's four-day celebration of The Beatles.

And during the chat, the hitmaker reflected on his collaboration with Kanye West four years ago.


'What happened was I got word that Kanye wanted to work with me. So I just thought, "Well, you know, I love his stuff so, here goes nothing"', he told the Take That singer.


Joyful: Paul appeared to be in high spirits as he left the event in honour of his album



Arty: Mary McCartney, 50, showcased her passion for art by wearing a unique baseball jacket boasting splashes of colour


Ta-ra! Paul waved goodbye to his fans as he got in the back of a car with Nancy


Smile! Nancy flashed a beaming smile from the back of their red taxi


Outta here! The musical icon waved to onlookers as he and wife Nancy left in a chauffeur driven car



What a night! Ringo flashed peace signs along with a wide smile, which mirrored his wife's delighted expression

'So we did some secret sessions and we both said if it doesn't work out we just won’t tell anyone!'

He went on to compare it to when he would write with his former Beatles star John Lennon.

He said: 'I worked with him and it was a very interesting way of working. It wasn't two guitars like me and John used to be, this was more cerebral.

'It was just talking and thinking and me plonking away a little bit. And you record everything and he takes it away and kind of does stuff with it.'


The track Paul and Kanye penned together was called FourFiveSeconds, and also featured Rihanna. 


See ya! Paul chatted to photographers before he was driven away in style



Animated! The rocker appeared animated as he and his wife waited to be driven away

Bye: The musician looked eager to get home following his hugely successful event

Paul McCartney compares working with Kanye West and John Lennon

www.dailymail.co.uk
Paul McCartney and Kanye West had 'secret recording sessions' and agreed not to tell anyone if it didn't work out... as Beatles star admits it was more 'cerebral' working with rapper than John Lennon
By ANDREW BULLOCK 
FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 26 September 2019

Gary Barlow has interviewed Sir Paul McCartney for BBC Radio 2's four-day celebration of The Beatles.

And during the chat, the 77-year-old reflected on his collaboration with Kanye West four years ago.

'What happened was I got word that Kanye wanted to work with me. So I just thought, "Well, you know, I love his stuff so, here goes nothing"', he told the Take That singer.

Retrospective: Gary Barlow has interviewed Sir Paul McCartney for BBC Radio 2's four-day celebration of The Beatles

 
Collab: Paul said he and Kanye West [R] had 'secret recording sessions' and agreed not to tell anyone if it didn't work out... and admitted that it was more 'cerebral' working with the rapper than John Lennon [L, pictured in 1963]

'So we did some secret sessions and we both said if it doesn't work out we just won’t tell anyone!'

He went on to compare it to when he would write with his former Beatles star John Lennon.

He said: 'I worked with him and it was a very interesting way of working. It wasn't two guitars like me and John used to be, this was more cerebral.

'It was just talking and thinking and me plonking away a little bit. And you record everything and he takes it away and kind of does stuff with it.' 

Fab Four: The Beatles consisted of [L-R] Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison [pictured in 1963]


Paul recalled: 'What happened was I got word that Kanye wanted to work with me. So I just thought, "Well, you know, I love his stuff so, here goes nothing"'

The track Paul and Kanye penned together was called FourFiveSeconds, and also featured Rihanna.

But the singer/songwriter admitted that he had no idea the pop starlet would be involved in the project until after she had recorded vocals for it.

'Just a month or so later, he sent back this record and it was Rihanna singing and so I had to ring up and sort of say "Am I on this? Did I have anything to do with it?"' I couldn't tell!

'He said, "Yeah, what it is is, that's you on guitar, so it's all the chords and the musical idea’s yours, but we’ve sped it up to suit Rihanna's key, musical key, so I did it in A so now it was up in D".

Frank talk: During the chat, the 77-year-old reflected on his collaboration with Kanye four years ago


Way back when: John Lennon and Paul McCartney are pictured in 1965 rehearsing for a Christmas music special

'I said "Oh I've co-written this thing?". He said "Yeah". So it was a great experience and I thought was a really good record, because she's fantastic. And I thought the production was great because it was very minimal.

'A year later, I'm reading an article about this group I kinda like called The Dirty Projectors and there’s a writer in there who I like his stuff and in the middle of the article it says his claim to fame is he wrote the middle eight to FourFiveSeconds.

'I go, what? So Kanye sort of farms it out.'

Gary Barlow Meets Sir Paul McCartney sees the Take That star begin his chat with the earliest days of the Beatles.

In conversation with: Gary Barlow Meets Sir Paul McCartney sees the Take That star begin his chat with the earliest days of the Beatles

Paul reveals that he and John only began writing songs because other bands at The Cavern were doing the same covers as they were.

He discusses how close the relationship between himself and John was and how they brought different, complimentary elements to their song-writing. He also talks about how they prided themselves that no two Beatles songs were ever the same.

Gary also explores where Paul's inspiration comes from, how he works and how he has managed a successful career over six decades.

Gary Barlow Meets Paul McCartney airs on Friday, 7-8PM on BBC Radio 2.   






www.bbc.co.uk
6 things we learned when Gary Barlow met Sir Paul McCartney



BBC Radio 2 is celebrating The Beatles, as their classic 'Abbey Road' album turns 50, with a four-day digital radio station dedicated to the Fab Four.

As part of the schedule, Take That frontman Gary Barlow sits down with Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney to hear anecdotes from his incredible career.

McCartney vividly recalls the band’s early days in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, their heady rise to superstardom, collaborating with Kanye West, and much more.

• Listen to Gary Barlow meets Sir Paul McCartney (available now)

Here are 6 things we learned when Gary Barlow met Sir Paul McCartney...

1. Radio was his first musical inspiration

Before he picked up a guitar (or a trumpet, which was actually the first instrument he learned to play), McCartney was raised on the sound of the radio.

He remembers hearing grand-sounding theme tunes to beloved radio shows blaring out from the wireless. “It would be whatever my mum had on while she was doing the ironing or cooking, [when] I was little.”

The “harmonies” from these theme songs - “some of which were classical pieces” - gave him a “sense of musicality,” he says. “So that was the real beginning... but then when I was about 14 I got this idea to write a song of my own, so I suppose that was the lightbulb.”

2. In their pomp, The Beatles wrote an entire album in one week

They had an incredible hit rate, releasing 12 studio albums between 1962 and 1970, all while touring the world and attracting Beatlemania. The secret to their success? A relentless schedule that saw McCartney and John Lennon penning an entire album’s worth of songs in their “week off.”

According to McCartney, “We’d be given a week off and we’d go ‘Wow. Great. A week off, we’ll do the whole album.’ You know, a song a day… virtually. “We’d just sit there with our guitars, me and John, and George and Ringo would have never heard the song previously - there [were] no sort of demos. George Martin, our producer, would have never heard it. So it was only me and John knew this song. And we had an hour and a half to finish it, which you know, those were the conditions.”

Did he and John find that kind of timeframe stifling to creativity? “You accepted [it]. We didn't go ‘What, an hour and a half cuts? Not long enough!’ We just went, ‘Yeah, OK’.

“Looking back on it, it's like, wow!”

3. He once had a hilarious encounter with Jerry Seinfeld

Credit: Manny Carabel / Stringer

‘I Saw Her Standing There’, the opening track on The Beatles’ ‘Please Please Me’ album, remains one of their most iconic tracks.

Its opening lyric (“Well, she was just seventeen / You know what I mean”) was originally “She was just seventeen / She’d never been a beauty queen.” McCartney remembers looking at Lennon and thinking, “Oh god, there’s something terribly wrong with that line.” The pair were “brutally honest with each other,” he says. “ If John had written something or if I had written something that wasn't good, it was like just a look between us [that said] ‘OK, let's fix that’. So we changed that to “seventeen / you know what I mean,” which is kind of a much better line.

Several decades on, the song remains the subject of dinner party talk. Television star Jerry Seinfeld once approached McCartney and said: “Paul… “Just Seventeen, you know what I mean’? I'm not sure we do know what you mean!”

4. He uses his phone to write songs, but prefers the old days of remembering ideas

In 2019, you can pen the foundations of a song simply by recording a voice memo into your phone. It could be a new melody, a lyric that’s sprung up in your imagination, or a full verse that’s ready to be recorded in a studio.

McCartney marvels at today’s technology, but says he prefers the test of not having to rely on it. “We could write the lyrics down, but we didn't write music, so we’d have to remember it. Now, you put half an idea down, [until you have] thousands [of ideas] and it's just like, ‘Urgh, I’ve got to finish that one. That's a good idea, but you've got fragments.’

“So, it actually sort of seems like a great advantage [to have phones], but I don't think it is..”

5. He has an inspiring message to future musicians

During their in-depth conversation, Barlow asks McCartney to list just one vital tip for anyone looking to get into the music business. What would that piece of advice be?

“The trick is to write a lot,” he said. “The more you write, the better you get.

“So once you’ve got your passion, you've written your first song, write your third, fourth, fifth. Probably round about your sixth you go, ‘You know what, that's actually not too bad’. And so I think that's it. I remember a painter being asked how this guy could become a better painter and he said… paint more! So I think that is the trick. Just write more.”

6. He thought Kanye West had cut him out of a song

In 2015, McCartney showcased his ability to stay on top of current trends by collaborating with pop and hip-hop superstars, Rihanna and Kanye West, on the song ‘FourFiveSeconds’. They performed the song at the Grammys, and The Fader magazine later named it the second best song of 2015.

Putting the song together, however, wasn’t a simple process. McCartney first had sessions with the enigmatic West, but he wasn’t sure if they’d completed a song. “We both said if it doesn't work out, we just won’t tell anyone!”

Instead of a normal collaboration, where a song is pretty much recorded there and then, Kanye took fragments of those sessions and invited other musicians to add their own parts. “You record everything and he takes it away and kind of does stuff with it. And just a month or so later, he sent back this record and it had Rihanna singing on it. So I had to ring up and sort of say, ‘Am I on this? Did I have anything to do with it?’ I couldn't tell!

Fortunately, he was very much still a part of the song. “Kanye said, ‘Yeah, that's you on guitar, so all the chords and the musical idea is yours, but we’ve sped it up to suit Rihanna's musical key. I did it in A and now it was up in D. I said ‘Oh I've co-written this thing?’. He said ‘Yeah’. So it was a great experience, and I thought it was a really good record, because [Rihanna is] fantastic. And I thought the production was great, because it was very minimal.”

Paul McCartney Breaks From Ringo, Says Brexit Is a 'Mess' and 'Probably A Mistake'

www.billboard.com
Paul McCartney Breaks From Ringo, Says Brexit Is a 'Mess' and 'Probably A Mistake'
by Tatiana Cirisano
9/20/2019


Sir Paul McCartney "Hey Grandude!" book signing at Waterstones Piccadilly on Sept. 6, 2019 in London.
Mike Marsland/WireImage

But the former Beatle didn't vote in the referendum.

Sir Paul McCartney thinks the Brexit referendum was "probably a mistake."

The former Beatle said so in a new interview with BBC Newsnight, adding that now, he doesn't think "anyone quite knows what to do with" the U.K.'s scheduled withdrawal from the E.U.

"I think it's a mess," he said, "and I will be glad when it's over."

McCartney, who was born in Liverpool, England, clarified that he didn't participate in the 2016 Brexit vote, where just over half of those voting (51.9%) supported the withdrawal. "I vote for someone I believe in, and so often, there's nobody I believe in," he said. The 77-year-old also explained that he disagreed with others in his generation who thought Brexit represented a return to "the old days." 

Even so, McCartney expressed hope for the future. 

"I think we'll come through with it; I think we always do," he added. "I mean, I am old enough to remember garbage in the streets and people not being able to get buried because the gravediggers were on strike. I mean, that was a pretty rough time, and we came through it. So I think we will come through this."

His words put him at odds with fellow Beatle Ringo Starr, who called Brexit a "great move" in a 2017 interview that recently resurfaced on Twitter -- coincidentally, also with BBC Newsnight. The famed drummer added that he would have voted in favor of Brexit (had he voted, which he didn't), since it's better to be "in control of your own country."

“The people voted and, you know, they have to get on with it," Starr said.

www.bbc.com
Sir Paul McCartney: Brexit vote probably a mistake
BBC News
19 September 2019




Sir Paul McCartney has said the Brexit referendum was "probably a mistake" and he will "be glad when it's over".

He had not voted in the referendum, he said, as he "didn't see anybody saying anything sensible enough".

Sir Paul said the current situation was "a mess" but added: "I think we'll come through it, we always do."

The former Beatle was speaking to BBC News as he - with daughters, Stella and Mary - released a book of personal photos, taken by his late wife, Linda.

Reflecting on the 2016 Brexit vote, Sir Paul said the arguments made during the campaign had been "all crazy promises".

"What put me off was that I was meeting a lot of older people, kind of pretty much my generation.

"And they were going, 'All right Paul - it's going to be like it was in the old days, we're going to go back.' And it was like, 'Yeah? Oh, I'm not sure about that.' And that attitude was very prevalent.

"I vote for someone I believe in and so often there's nobody I believe in. I have to get a bit inspired. At the moment I'm not really inspired."

'Little pieces of art'

Linda McCartney, who died aged 56 in 1998, began her photographic career in New York, shooting rock stars.

The book - Linda McCartney The Polaroid Diaries - compiles more than 200 photographs from her private collection and offers a glimpse into the family's life in Scotland and southern England.

"For us, they're just family photos but because it's Linda, a great photographer, they're little pieces of art," Sir Paul said.

THE POLAROID DIARIES, TASCHEN

"I'd been through a very difficult period at the end of the Beatles. It was like hell.

"But I'd just met this beautiful woman and we were raising a family, so we decided to escape, so we escaped to Scotland and lived a very funky life."

The Polaroids show pet hamsters, a lamb in the kitchen, bath-times, birthday cakes and the McCartney children playing dress-up.

Mary McCartney said the photos showed a "simple" life, where as a baby she had slept in a bed made by her father from old potato boxes.

THE POLAROID DIARIES, TASCHEN

"There's a lot of Mum in these pictures," said Mary, who, like her mother, is also a photographer.

Stella, a fashion designer, said her mother had captured "quite surreal moments" and talked of the difficulty in releasing such an intimate book.

"I find it quite hard because we're a very protective family, we lived in the middle of nowhere all together and we didn't really come out and talk about it," she said.

"I grew up very much protecting the family unit."

THE POLAROID DIARIES, TASCHEN

Stella, who has previously advocated not washing clothes in the interest of the environment, was also asked about her role in the polluting fashion industry.

"I believe that the product I'm making is a far better solution to what is already existing in my industry," she said.

"I want to try and promote that you can still have a healthy, fashionable luxurious business and you don't have to kill animals and you don't have to harm the planet."

Sir Paul went on to defend the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have beencriticised for their use of a private jet.

"I think it's unfair. People fly," he said. "Give the girl a break. They do more good than harm."