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Is Paul McCartney ready to say "Let it Be" to a Beatles reunion?
British newspaper the Sun (via Monsters and Critics) reports that organizers have approached McCartney about performing at the 2012 summer Olympic games in London. What's more, the event might just develop into a quasi-reunion of the Fab Four, with Ringo Starr providing the backbeat and the children of the late John Lennon and George Harrison filling in for their dads.
(Lennon, who was murdered in 1980, had two sons, Julian and Sean, who have both embarked on music careers. Dhani Harrison, George's son, also followed in the family business, recently collaborating with Ben Harper and Joseph Arthur in the band Fistful of Mercy.)
"[McCartney] has been speaking to organizers and has said he'd love to be involved with the games in some way," a source tells the newspaper. "The organizers want the Beatles legend to appear alongside other big British acts. And they want Ringo on stage as well to make it extra special. There's also the possibility that George Harrison and John Lennon could be represented by their kids. The Beatles are loved all over the world so it's a no-brainer that they should be represented at the Olympics."
McCartney and Starr have performed together numerous times since the Beatles' 1970 breakup. At the drummer's 70th birthday celebration at New York's Radio City Music Hall last year, McCartney joined his former bandmate to perform -- what else? -- the Beatles song "Birthday."
McCartney's company, MPL Communications, had no comment for TheWrap. The International Olympics Committee did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.
Granted, this is also from the same paper that told us that Led Zeppelin would be at Bonnaroo 2008, so take this with a gigantic heaping of salt - but if this does happen, I will do whatever it take to be there. I'll swim across the freakin' Atlantic if I have to.
Well, no shit Sherlock - that's why I called it a quasi-reunion.
But unless someone figures out how to reanimate dead tissue, Paul, Ringo, Julian and Dhani is the closest we'll ever see to an actual reunion in this terrestrial realm. What exactly were you expecting anyway?
Post by Longtime and Frequent Poster on Jul 11, 2011 22:14:46 GMT -5
To be completely honest, this wouldn't really be any different for me than McCartney playing Beatles songs with his backing band. I guess it'd be kind of cool for Ringo to be up there too, but not worth whatever the insane prices would be relative to a Macca show. Which are already pretty high obviously.
Post by Funky Munky on Jul 18, 2011 18:38:33 GMT -5
Any Beatle at all would be huge. These guys are the measuring stick, when I hear people reduce Ringo to "a drummer", which is fucking cool, it makes me lose my mind. Ringo star has more hits than a lot of the bands we stroke off in here have songs. Speaking of which, That Fistful of Mercy album is really good, it's a shame it isn't going to happen.
To be honest, I have next to zero interest in seeing the two Beatles spawn try to fill the shoes of their fathers. I mean, if they're there, then that'd be cool I suppose, but I don't think they'd really be bringing anything to the table that McCartney's backing band couldn't do just as well, if not better. And that's nothing against Julian and Dhani at all - but I'd rather see them perform their own work than try to fill the extremely large shoes of their fathers. And while I think there is something to be said for children doing a uniquely special and honest interpretation of their parents' work, it'd just be more of an added bonus than anything else.
What interests me the most is the idea of McCartney and Starr playing together again, which the article said is not only possible, but actually happened last year (and how exactly did this manage to slip under my radar screen?) Call me crazy if you want, but I actually think Starr is one of the most underrated musicians in rock history, and the only reason he isn't recognized as such more often is because he was always working in the shadow of his three phenomenal bandmates.
However, I definitely do not see any sort of full tour happening and think they'll only play together on very special occasions - but it's still good to know they're at least open to the idea of getting back together every once in a blue moon.
