Beyoncé thanks Paul McCartney for ‘one of the best songs ever made’

Beyoncé closed the last night of her Cowboy Carter Tour’s six-show race at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Monday (June 16) with a heartfelt message to fans and a tribute to one of England’s most iconic songwriters.

“Thanks, Sir Paul McCartney, for writing one of the best songs ever made. Every time I sing it, I feel so honored. And it’s a full circle moment to wear your beautiful daughter’s design,” Beyoncé wrote in an Instagram post and refers to her Cowboy Carter Reproduction of Beatles’ classic “Blackbird in 1968.”

“Thank you, London, for creating unforgettable memories for me and my family,” she continued. “Holla at ‘Ya When I Come On Tour again!”

Her version of the song, stylized as “Blackbiird”, repeats the original with string blooms and vocal contributions from four rising black female country artists: Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts and Tiera Kennedy. The cover is one of two reinterpretations shown on Cowboy Carteralong with her takeover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”

McCartney praised Beyoncé’s version earlier this year and called it a “magnificent” interpretation that strengthens the civil rights announcement that inspired him to write it. “I think Beyoncé has made a FAB version and will encourage anyone who has not yet heard it to check it out,” he wrote on Instagram. “You will love it.”

The Beatles’ ‘Blackbird’ was originally written in response to Little Rock Nine, a group of black students facing violent resistance while integrating an Arkansas High School in 1957. McCartney has said the song was written as a message of hope and encouragement for black women facing injustice.

McCartney, whose original master recording is used in Beyoncé’s version, according to Variety, also revealed that he had the chance to talk to the pop icon about her acquisition of “Blackbird.”

“I talked to her on Facetime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it,” wrote McCartney, who attended Beyoncé’s record -breaking Renaissance World Tour last year. “I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had made a murder version of the song. When I saw the footage on the television in the early 60s of the black girls turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can’t believe that there are still places where these kinds of things are happening right now.” Everything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tight would be a big thing and that makes me very proud. “

Published in March 2024, Cowboy Carter Debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200 and made Beyoncé the first black woman who was the top country albums diagram. The project also won her The Grammy for Best Country Album earlier this year.