Music

Paul McCartney Seeks to Release Prince's Hidden Cover of The Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road"

Paul McCartney recently revealed he discovered Prince had covered "The Long and Winding Road" years after Prince's passing and hopes to unearth the recording.

Rolling Stone·May 27, 2026·via Rolling Stone

Paul McCartney Seeks to Release Prince's Hidden Cover of The Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road"

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Paul McCartney Wants to Unearth Prince’s Cover of the Beatles’ ‘The Long and Winding Road’

McCartney said he didn't know Prince recorded a version of the Let It Be single until years after his death

By Larisha Paul

Larisha Paul

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May 27, 2026

In the wake of his 2016 death, Prince left behind an enviable vault containing thousands of unreleased songs, most of which will likely never see the light of day. While the late musician’s estate has shared a few selections from the collection over the years, there’s one in particular that Paul McCartney is hoping they’ll come around to releasing: a cover Prince recorded of the Beatles ‘ Let It Be single, “The Long and Winding Road.”

“I was with some guy couple of years ago, so it was after Prince had died, and this guy said, ‘Have you heard Prince do ‘Long and Winding Road?'” McCartney said on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years . “I said, ‘Well, no, that’s one of my songs. I don’t think he ever did it.’ He said, ‘Well, he did. He did it in rehearsal. He was rehearsing it for something.’ So, he said, ‘I’ll send it to you if you want.’ He sent it to me and it’s really great.”

The guy, McCartney believes, was a personal photographer for Prince. He described the recording as “kind of rocky,” adding, “He plays some really good guitar on it.” McCartney proposed the idea of asking the musician’s estate about what can be done with the hidden recording. “I could make it into something really good,” he said.