Paul McCartney Has Fighting Words for the Rolling Stones

Paul McCartney recently dropped what many might see as fighting words for the Rolling Stones, referring to the rockers as a “blues cover band.” While speaking to The New Yorker, in a recent interview, The Beatles member shared his thoughts on the Rolling Stones. “I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are,” he said. McCartney went on to comment on a more specific musical difference between his defunct group and the Stones, saying, “I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs.” 

Notably, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger previously made some shady comments about The Beatles during a 2020 interview. While appearing on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music show, Jagger addressed comparisons between the two groups by saying, “One band is unbelievably luckily still playing in stadiums, and then the other band doesn’t exist.” This comment came after McCartney appeared on The Howard Stern Show and boldly stated that “the Beatles were better” than the Rolling Stones.

McCartney has been opening up quite a bit lately, even recently sharing some previously unknown insight into The Beatles’ big break-up back in 1970. “I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny,” McCartney told BBC interviewer John Wilson. “I am not the person who instigated the split.” The Wings frontman continued, “Oh no, no, no. John walked into a room one day and said ‘I am leaving the Beatles.’ And he said, ‘It’s quite thrilling, it’s rather like a divorce.’ And then we were left to pick up the pieces.”

McCartney went on to share, “The point of it really was that John was making a new life with Yoko [Ono, Lennon’s widow] and he wanted… to lie in bed for a week in Amsterdam for peace. You couldn’t argue with that. It was the most difficult period of my life.” Finally, he added, “This was my band, this was my job, this was my life. I wanted it to continue. I thought we were doing some pretty good stuff – Abbey Road, Let It Be, not bad – and I thought we could continue.” 

While The Beatles are not out touring like the Rolling Stones, fans will be excited to know that Disney+ has produced an upcoming three-part documentary on the band, titled The Beatles: Get Back. It will chronicle the making of Let It Be — released in 1970 — which had the working title of Get Back. The limited docu-series is said to draw from material originally captured in the 1970 documentary of the album which was filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. The Beatles: Get Back is set to premiere on Disney+ consecutively on Nov. 25, 26, and 27.