Paul McCartney surprises Beatles fans taking Magical Mystery Tour in Liverpool

Beatles fans taking the Magical Mystery Tour in Liverpool got the shock of their lives yesterday (July 20th) when they bumped into Paul McCartney.

To make things even more perfect, not only did they see McCartney at the traffic lights, but he also stuck his head out of the window of the car to show them that he was on FaceTime with his Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr.

Speaking to the BBC in Liverpool, Neal Morton, who drives the Magical Mystery Tour bus, described the chance meeting as “surreal”.

Morton added, “I had pulled up at the traffic lights on Hope Street when who should I see – Sir Paul with Ringo on Facetime.”

He also shared that it unsurprisingly made the day of everyone on the tour, “He waved to us and everybody took photos. The passengers could not believe it.”

Sadly, due to the moment being fleeting, they did not have a chance to engage McCartney in conversation, but just seeing him in the flesh was enough for those taking the tour.

McCartney is back in Liverpool to honour actor Stephen Graham with a special award from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), which is expected to take place on July 21st.

The performing arts school was co-founded by McCartney, who still regularly makes trips back to his hometown to visit the institution.

It comes after McCartney reflected on his early days in Liverpool on his latest album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which arrived on May 28th.

During an appearance on The Rest is History, McCartney reminisced about those formative years in conversation with historian Tom Holland and discussed having Liverpool to thank for the person he is today.

He shared, “I do think the character of Liverpool is a very strong one. I think with the Irish influence and then coming through the war, and having to be happy when bombs were falling, there was a lot of music when I was a kid.”

McCartney last performed in Liverpool in 2025, when he made a surprise guest appearance at Bruce Springsteen’s headline show at Anfield to play ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ and ‘Kansas City’.

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