April 4, 2024

Paul McCartney praises Beyoncé’s 'killer version' of 'Blackbird'

Joe Maher and Kevin Mazur/WireImage via Getty Images
Split image showing Sir Paul McCartney at the UK premiere of "If These Walls Could Sing" at Abbey Road Studios on Dec. 12, 2022 in London, and Beyoncé performing onstage during the “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” at PGE Narodowy on June 27, 2023 in Warsaw, Poland.

Paul McCartney is letting fans know that he more than approves of Beyoncé's cover of The Beatles' "Blackbird."

"I am so happy with @beyonce's version of my song 'Blackbird,'" McCartney shared on Instagram Thursday. "I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place."

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He added, "I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out. You are going to love it!"

Joe Maher and Kevin Mazur/WireImage via Getty Images
Split image showing Sir Paul McCartney at the UK premiere of "If These Walls Could Sing" at Abbey Road Studios on Dec. 12, 2022 in London, and Beyoncé performing onstage during the “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” at PGE Narodowy on June 27, 2023 in Warsaw, Poland.

McCartney also revealed in his post that he had a FaceTime conversation with Beyonce about the song, noting, "[S]he thanked me for writing it and letting her do it." He said, "I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song."

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McCartney also shared his feelings about the song still being so relevant today.

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"When I saw the footage on the television in the early 60s of the black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can't believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now," he continued.

"Anything my song and Beyoncé's fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud," he added.

"Cowboy Carter," Beyoncé's eighth studio album, was released on March 29, and became the most streamed album on Spotify in a single day for 2024.