Posted on 05/29/2026 2:27:17 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Paul McCartney has an idea for a posthumous collaboration with Prince.
During a recent appearance on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years, the Beatles legend shared high praise for the Purple One, specifically naming his 1986 single “Kiss” as a favorite.
“He took a lot from Hendrix, but he was a great player,” McCartney noted of Prince’s guitar playing on the tune. “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 then shared an unexpected anecdote.
“I was with some guy, a couple of years ago so it was after Prince had died, and he said, ‘Have you heard Prince do ‘Long and Winding Road’? I said, ‘Well no, that’s one of my songs, I don’t think he ever did it.’”
Prince's History With 'The Long and Winding Road'
According to setlist.fm, Prince covered “The Long and Winding Road” in concert 12 times, most of which took place during his 2007 residency at Club 3121 in Las Vegas. McCartney was evidently unaware of the renditions, and was surprised when he was sent a recording of Prince’s version.
Listening to the recording, McCartney noticed Prince made the song "kind of rocky" with "some really good guitar on it." Hearing another rock icon reinterpret the Beatles classic got the creative wheels turning in Macca's head. “It’s really great, so I’m going to ask them [for permission to use it]. Because I could make it into something really good.”
If Sir Paul gets his wish, a McCartney-Prince duet may see the light of day. If it comes anywhere close to the Purple One’s famous rendition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” fans will have plenty to be excited about.
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Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Why didn't he do it?
It's interesting he mentions Jimi Hendrix. I read Prince had every solo by Terry Kath from Chicago memorized when he was a teenager.
I have heard Prince could play 27 different musical instruments....
HA haaaaaaaaaaaaaa! You arsehole!
The posthumous release of the song with Lennon didn’t do too well last year.
Prince owns While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
L
Sir Paul will always be treasured by music lovers because of what he has done some time ago, always! But most people see him now as creatively a Spent Force, with most innovations far behind him. It happens to most performers.
Rock and Roll or Power Rock .i.e from groups such as
Led Zepelin is still seen as the outcries and expressions from a Young Man, one who has yet to encounter the hoops and hurdles of life. It becomes rather difficult to get that edge with an 83 y/o man singing the lead.
**Will we still need him, will we still greet him, when he’s 84? (Paul will be 84 y/o this July 18th).
And you got his birthday wrong too: he’ll be 84 on June 18.
I’m happy Paul continues to write and produce music.
Making music/ making merry is his raison de’etre, and has been, since learning piano while watching his Dad James improvise jazz passages on the family upright.
As I said, he will always be a treasure, especially to those of us who grew up hearing his work.
“Paul McCartney has an idea for a posthumous collaboration with Prince.” How in the hell is he going to do that?
Sorry if I came down a little hard on ya.
“Posthumous” just for Prince or for McCartney too?
Prince’s Montreux shows from 2012 are on YouTube, just amazing to watch.
Macca doesn’t exactly have a great track record with duets with black guys.
I really want to like the album, but the voice just isn’t there anymore.
Hahahaha, what a classic skit that was.
Posthumous duets are just creepy, period.
I remember Pat Metheny going off of Kenny G. for doing a “posthumous” duet of “What a Wonderful World” with Louis Armstrong.
“Posthumous” just for Prince or for McCartney too?
There’s always one on these threads, LOL!
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