Sir Paul McCartney is currently celebrating Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter like the rest of the world, specifically her cover of The Beatles' "Blackbird."
The legendary singer-songwriter posted a congratulations to Beyoncé on Instagram, commending her for her version of the 1968 song, but also her decision to raise awareness about the important message behind it.
"I am so happy with @beyonce’s version of my song ‘Blackbird’,." he writes. "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. 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!"
McCartney says he was able to speak with Beyoncé about recording the song, while sharing the inspiration behind writing.
"I spoke to her 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," he adds. "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."
Beyoncé's cover of "Blackbird" also features vocals by rising country star Tanner Adell, who this week spoke to TODAY about the experience of contributing to an instant classic record like Cowboy Carter.
"It's absolutely seismic," she says. "The butterfly effect from this album will span probably the rest of our lives."
Adell had previously referenced Beyoncé in her 2023 single, "Buckle Bunny," making this experience a dream come true for her.
“In my song, ‘Buckle Bunny,’ I say, ‘Looking like Beyoncé with a lasso.’ I have loved her for so long and it was really just my hope. Here we are today and I have a little bit of a voice on this album,” she said.