Credit: Far Out / Alamy

Paul McCartney was “amazed” by Guns N’ Roses cover of ‘Live and Let Die’

Tue 14 November 2023 9:49, UK

The former Beatle Paul McCartney has reflected on Guns N’ Roses’ famous cover of his 1973 hit with Wings, ‘Live and Let Die’.

McCartney penned the song following his exit from The Beatles for the James Bond film of the same name starring Roger Moore. Nearly two decades later, Guns N’ Roses covered the song on their popular 1991 album, Use Your Illusion I.

Although McCartney enjoyed the cover, he admitted being surprised that the Californian rockers decided to cover one of his songs and that many mistook it for a Guns N’ Roses original.

“I thought it was pretty good, actually. I was more amazed that they would actually do it, this young American group,” McCartney said during a recent episode of his A Life In Lyrics podcast.

“The interesting thing was my kids would go to school, and they would go, ‘My dad wrote that.’ They’d go, ‘No, he didn’t, it was Guns N’ Roses,’ so nobody would ever believe them. For a while, it was just Guns N’ Roses.”

“I was very happy that they had done it. I always like people doing my songs,” he added.

Discussing his experience writing the song as a Bond theme, McCartney continued: “It was always a sneaky ambition to write a Bond song because, in some ways, I like to see myself, one portion of myself, as a jobbing writer. You require a song for the queen’s wedding, I’m your man.

“The equivalent of that for a lot of people is the Bond song. You’ve written a Bond song, it’s a bit of an accolade,” noted the Beatle.

Meanwhile, in another recent episode of his podcast, McCartney looked back upon his relationship with his former Beatles bandmate, John Lennon and their first meeting as teenagers.

“The first time I ever saw John Lennon, he got on the bus … he was like this slightly older guy with this sort of rocker hairdo — lots of grease — black jacket, sideburns, sideboards as we call them. And I just remember thinking, ‘Well, he’s a cool guy. No idea who he is,’” he told co-host Paul Muldoon.

Listen to Guns N’ Roses’ cover of Paul McCartney’s ‘Live and Let Die’ below.