Sir Paul McCartney has explained how he came to record his first ever duet with his former Beatles bandmate Sir Ringo Starr.
Paul was working on his new album The Boys Of Dungeon Lane when he came up with the idea for new song Home To Us – inspired by the bandmates’ upbringing in the city of Liverpool, England – and after sending the track to Ringo, the drummer added some lines to the chorus and Paul decided he wanted to hear his friend sing it.
During a special preview of The Boys Of Dungeon Lane for fans at London’s famed Abbey Road studios, Paul explained: “Ringo went round to the studio and drummed a bit. I said to [producer Andrew Watt], we should make a track and send it to him. So this song is done totally with Ringo in mind …
“In writing the song I’m talking about where we came from. In common with a lot of people, you come from nothing and you build yourself up.
“Ringo was from the Dingle [area of Liverpool], and that was well hard. He said he used to get mugged coming home, because he worked. Even though it was crazy, it was home to us.”
Paul went on to describe how Home To Us turned into a duet, adding: “I made the song around that idea and sent it to Ringo. He sent me back a version where he just added some lines to the chorus, so I thought, maybe he doesn’t like it.
“I rang him and he said he thought I only wanted him to sing one or two lines, and I said I’d love to hear him sing the whole thing. So we took my first line, Ringo’s second line, and then we had a duet. We’d never done that before.”
Paul then decided the pair needed some first rate backing vocals on Home To Us, so he recruited Chrissie Hynde and Texas star Sharleen Spiteri.
He said: “We wanted some backing vocals and I had the idea it would be nice to hear girls. Chrissie Hynde said she’d do it, and Sharleen Spiteri, they’re mates. So they did it.”
The Boys Of Dungeon Lane is set for release on May 29 while Home To Us is out on Friday (08.05.26).