Paul McCartney has taken to Instagram to praise Beyoncé‘s remake of the Beatles‘ iconic “Blackbird,” which was released last week on her new album, Cowboy Carter.
“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 wrote 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!”
The Beatles legend added that he spoke to Beyoncé on FaceTime “and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it. I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song. 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. Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud.”
According to reports, Beyoncé utilized elements from the Beatles’ master recording of “Blackbird,” including McCartney’s acoustic guitar part. He is listed as a co-producer on the Cowboy Carter version, which features additional vocals from black country singers Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer and Tiera Kennedy.
