The unreleased Prince video that surprised Paul McCartney

Joining forces with a legend who no longer exists: this is the ambitious project he is working on Paul McCartney. During a recent interview on the “Tracks of My Years” program on BBC Radio 2, the former Beatle revealed that he has an unreleased recording in which Prince reinterprets “The Long and Winding Road”. McCartney’s goal? Contact the Minneapolis artist’s heirs to turn that tape into a duet.

The British singer-songwriter said that the piece was delivered to him a few years ago by Prince’s personal photographer:

She told me that Prince had tried it on for an event. When I listened to the track I was blown away: it’s exceptional, it has a strong rock feel and crazy guitar. He was a special man.

Although Sir Paul thought it was an isolated attempt, Prince had actually included the cover permanently in the set list of his historic concerts in Las Vegas in 2007. It wasn’t the first time that the artist compared himself to the Fab Four, as evidenced by his legendary performance of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in 2004 at the Rock Hall of Fame.

During the interview, McCartney retraced the songs that marked his life, defining Prince “a magician” and crowning “Kiss” as his favorite song. Among his influences he cited giants such as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and the Beach Boys.

There was also space for a look at the contemporary musical panorama. McCartney has expressed great admiration for the new generation of female pop artists, including Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and, above all, Taylor Swift. He praised the latter’s artistic intelligence, admitting that a pop star of her caliber certainly doesn’t need her advice.