Paul McCartney gushes about Beyoncé’s version of 'Blackbird' on her new 'Cowboy Carter' album
Not that she needed it, but Beyoncé has gotten Paul McCartney's official seal of approval for her recently released version of his song, "Blackbird," calling it "magnificent" and "fab."
The former Beatle said in an Instagram post on Thursday that he hoped Beyoncé's performance of the song might ease racial tension. "Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud," McCartney said in the post, which included a picture of him with Queen Bey.
The song, titled "Blackbiird" with two Is, is the second track on Beyoncé's latest album, "Cowboy Carter," released March 29. Four female black country artists − Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts and Brittney Spencer − join her on the song, adding rich harmonies and background vocals. The song's title has an additional "I" to reflect "Cowboy Carter" as the superstar's "Act II" album.
"I am so happy with @beyonce’s version of my song ‘Blackbird.' 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," McCartney said on Instagram. "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!"
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Paul McCartney on the original Beatles' version of 'Blackbird'
The original version of the song, a solo performance by McCartney, appeared on the 1968 double-album by The Beatles, known as "The White Album." McCartney's original acoustic guitar and foot tapping from the albums' original master recording was used on Beyoncé's new version, Variety reported.
McCartney said the two spoke on Facetime.
"She 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."
The history of McCartney's 'Blackbird'
In the past, McCartney has said he wrote the song after hearing about nine Black students who were harassed and threatened by white students while enrolling in and desegregating Little Rock, Arkansas' Central High School in 1957.
"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," McCartney continued on Instagram. "Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud."
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer also previously has said the idea of "you were only waiting for this moment to arise" symbolized Black women's plight during the Civil Rights Movement.
"The song was written only a few weeks after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.," McCartney wrote in his 2021 book "The Lyrics." "That imagery of the broken wings and the sunken eyes and the general longing for freedom is very much of its moment."
Contributing: Caché McClay and Marcus K. Dowling, USA TODAY Network.
Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.
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