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Paul McCartney Hints At Posthumous Duet With Prince

Mary Varvaris

Prince covered The Beatles' 'The Long and Winding Road' in 2007, and Paul McCartney plans on using a recording from those days for a posthumous duet.

Paul McCartney in Adelaide, Prince
Paul McCartney in Adelaide, Prince(Credit: Rodney Magazinovic, Supplied)
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Paul McCartney has dropped hints about a posthumous collaborative duet with Prince, sharing that he’s worked on the Purple Rain singer’s cover of The Beatles’ The Long and Winding Road.

McCartney opened up about the unreleased number during a recent interview on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years programme, where he was promoting his forthcoming solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane.

“I was with some guy a couple of years ago, so it was after Prince had died,” McCartney began. “And this guy said, ‘Have you heard Prince do ‘Long and Winding Road?’ I said, ‘Well, no. That’s one of my songs.’ I said, ‘I don’t think he ever did it.’ He said, ‘Well, he did. He did it in rehearsal. He was rehearsing it for something.'”

McCartney continued, “He said, ‘I’ll send it to you if you want.’ This guy, I think he was Prince’s photographer, his personal guy. So, he sent it to me, and it’s really great. And so, I’m going to sort of ask [the estate] … because I could make it into something really good… It’s kind of rocky. He plays some really good guitar on it. He was a special guy.”

You can watch the interview below.

As Consequence of Sound notes, Prince didn’t just rehearse The Long and Winding Road, but he also performed it live during “multiple” shows at his 2007 Las Vegas residency.

Plus, Prince showed his appreciation for The Beatles on at least another occasion, when he, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne, and Dhani Harrison performed the George Harrison-penned classic, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, at the 2004 Rock Hall Induction Ceremony. Prince’s guitar solo is recognised as one of the greatest of all time.

Paul McCartney releases his new album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, this Friday (29 May).

The theme of Paul McCartney’s music in 2026 is nostalgia, as he looks back on his formative years in Liverpool and his entry into the music industry. He unveils “never-before-shared” stories for the first time on his first album since 2020’s McCartney III.

Check out The Music’s review of the album here.