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McCartney Teases Prince's Posthumous Cover of Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road"

Paul McCartney has revealed that Prince recorded a "rocky" cover of The Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road," featuring a "special" guitar performance.

Consequence·May 27, 2026·via Consequence

McCartney Teases Prince's Posthumous Cover of Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road"

Paul McCartney claims that Prince recorded a cover of The Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road” that he hopes to release.

McCartney discussed the unreleased rendition in a new interview with BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years show, where he went through 10 songs from his lifetime that made an impact on him, spanning his early days in Liverpool through The Beatles, Wings, and his new solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane .

“Crazy scoop here: I was with some guy a couple of years ago, so it was after Prince had died,” McCartney recalled. “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.’

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“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.”

McCartney didn’t offer any other details about the recording, so it’s unknown when Prince made it, where he made it, and if it will eventually be released. Still, McCartney praised the late icon, selecting “Kiss” as his essential Prince track and deeming him “a wizard.” McCartney also discussed other songs from the last 70 years that made an impact on him, including Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly & the Crickets, Elvis, the Kinks, the Human League, Bob Dylan, and the Beach Boys.

He surveyed the modern songwriting landscape too, touching on the success of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Sabrina Carpenter: “I’ve met a few of these girls and admired what they’re doing. I think they’re good singers… They’re really cool people. They’re very good,” he said. McCartney spotlighted Taylor Swift, saying that she’s “clever” and doesn’t need any of his advice, and mentioned a party that his wife and daughter had where all four women were in attendance. Watch the full clip of Paul McCartney on The Tracks of My Years below.

McCartney will reveal The Boys of Dungeon Lane , his 20th solo album, on Friday, May 29th. He recently appeared as a guest on Stephen Colbert’s final episode of The Late Show , and was the musical guest for the season finale of Saturday Night Live this month.

As for Prince, a celebration of life commemorating the 10th anniversary of his passing will take place on June 3rd-7th in Minneapolis. Performers include Chaka Khan, Morris Day, Miguel, Tevin Campbell, Bilal, members of Prince’s band The Revolution, and more.