Paul McCartney and Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde have been friends since the late 1970s. The multi-talented singer-songwriters have long shared a bond thanks to their mutual support of the animal-rights organization PETA, while both also worked with producer Chris Thomas during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
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Meanwhile, Hynde appears in the new McCartney documentary Man On The Run, which focuses on Paul’s years with his post-Beatles band Wings. Chrissie and Paul have also occasionally shared a stage. One particular memorable performance they did together took place at the star-studded tribute concert for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins on September 3, 2023, at Wembley Stadium in London.
Hynde had performed with The Pretenders earlier in the show, with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on bass. McCartney was a surprise guest who hit the stage with the Foo Fighters near the end of the concert. Grohl first introduced Hynde and then teased that she’d “brought a friend with her today.” Dave then announced that the good friend was McCartney.
The Beatles legend, with his bass strapped on, then stepped up to the mic and said, “God bless Taylor.” Paul McCartney then declared, “Me and Chrissie are gonna do a song here that I haven’t done since recording it 100 years ago. I’ve never done it as a duet, but we’re gonna do it tonight for the first time … for you.”
McCartney and the Foos, with acclaimed jazz drummer Omar Hakim sitting in, then kicked into a rare live performance of the classic 1969 Beatles song “Oh! Darling” from the Abbey Road album. McCartney and Hynde alternated on lead vocals during the verses, while Chrissie belted out the choruses.
More About “Oh! Darling”
Besides at the Hawkins tribute concert in London, McCartney has rarely if ever played “Oh! Darling” live. The song apparently puts a serious strain on Paul’s voice.
Even when he first recorded “Oh! Darling” in 1969, McCartney reportedly took a long time laying down the vocals.
In the 2018 book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, engineer Alan Parsons recalled, “Paul came in several days running to do the lead vocal on ‘Oh! Darling.’ He’d come in, sing it and say, ‘No, that’s not it, I’ll try it again tomorrow.’ He only tried it once per day, I suppose he wanted to capture a certain rawness which could only be done once before the voice changed.”
Parsons added, “I remember him saying, ‘Five years ago I could have done this in a flash,’ referring, I suppose, to the days [when The Beatles recorded covers of early rock-and-roll songs like] ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘Kansas City’.”
Other Times McCartney and Hynde Shared a Stage
Chrissie Hynde also performed with Paul McCartney in 1999 at a tribute concert Chrissie co-organized for Paul’s late first wife, Linda. The show, called “Here, There and Everywhere: A Concert for Linda,” took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on April 10.
McCartney played a few songs at the event, including a version of the Fab Four’s “All My Loving” with the entire lineup of the show joining him. He ended the concert with The Beatles’ “Let It Be.” Hynde, Elvis Costello, and George Michael also joined in on vocals on that tune.
In June 2023, Hynde yet again brought out McCartney on stage to greet the crowd at the end of The Pretenders’ set at the U.K.’s famous Glastonbury Festival.
(Photo by Ki Price/WireImage)
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