Beyoncé pays tribute to both Paul McCartney and Stella McCartney for ‘Blackbird' inspiration
Beyoncé is showing her gratitude to the McCartney family in connection to the legendary Beatles song 'Blackbird.'
The superstar – currently on her international 'Cowboy Carter' tour – covered the 1968 track on her groundbreaking album of the same name and performs it during the show. Following her six-night run at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Beyoncé honored Beatles member and 'Blackbird' scribe Paul McCartney on her Instagram page on Monday, thanking him 'for writing one of the best songs ever made.'
'Every time I sing it I feel so honored. And it is a full circle moment to wear your beautiful daughter's design,' Beyoncé added, referring to McCartney's daughter Stella McCartney, a famed fashion designer.
Beyoncé posted a series of photos showcasing the Stella McCartney-designed tour costume, consisting of a white t-shirt with two black birds on the bust and a pair of rhinestone fringe chaps.
The elder McCartney previously commended Beyoncé's rendition of his iconic song, which is included on 'Cowboy Carter' under the slightly revised title 'Blackbiird' and is amplified by the voices of four up-and-coming Black female country artists featured on the track: Tiera Kennedy, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer and Reyna Roberts.
'I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place,' Paul McCartney wrote on his Instagram page last year, going on to 'urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out.'
Paul McCartney originally wrote 'Blackbird' amid the 1960s civil rights movement in the United States. It was inspired by the Little Rock Nine, a group of Black students who were the first to desegregate schools in late 1950s Arkansas.
'When I saw the footage on the television in the early 60s of the black (sic) girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can't believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now,' Paul McCartney wrote in his post.
He added, 'Anything my song and Beyoncé's fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Elle
2 hours ago
- Elle
Why the Slogan T-Shirt Trend Is Back in a Big Way
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. 'I knew I would get canceled for this,' designer Marie Lueder joked to a reporter after her Berlin Fashion Week show. The most talked-about item in her collection was a tank top that boasted the slogan 'Men are so BACK,' a phrase Lueder says was inspired both by the TikTok refrain 'We are so back' and by the election of Donald Trump and the rise of the far-right AfD party in her native Germany. 'Humor is important as a weapon when you feel powerless,' she says. In fact, the London-based designer did not get canceled, but she did get more news coverage than she's used to. And she was working in a long-standing fashion tradition. From Katharine Hamnett's antinuclear T-shirts to Dior's 'We should all be feminists' tee, slogan shirts go hand in hand with turbulent times. This season, there were myriad statements to choose from, and designers themselves sometimes served as the models. Case in point: Willy Chavarria's 'How we love is who we are' finale look at his Paris show, part of a collaboration with Tinder and the Human Rights Campaign to raise awareness of the 489 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in the U.S. in the past year. Or Conner Ives's 'Protect the Dolls' shirt in support of trans rights—which the designer put up for sale online, with all proceeds going to Trans Lifeline. We first saw political slogan T-shirts gain steam in another tumultuous era, the late '60s, notes Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of the Museum at FIT. The antiwar, civil rights, gay rights, and feminist movements all used the garment to underscore their message. 'It comes out of a protest tradition, and it proliferates very rapidly, because it's an obvious way of communicating a message,' she says. 'It becomes a billboard that you're wearing.' Today, with causes from immigrant rights to trans visibility on the front pages, the landscape has become even more splintered—and so have its style reverberations. Rather than unite around a shared cause, designers were inspired to broadcast specific, and sometimes very personal, sentiments. Designer Patricio Campillo, who wore his own topical 'El Golfo De México' design to take his bow, notes that 'one of the things that I love about Mexican culture is this ability that we have to satirize complicated situations.' The shirt, which riffed on Trump's executive order that the body of water be renamed 'Gulf of America,' was tongue-in-cheek, made to look like a souvenir that might be sold in local street markets. Like Lueder's tank, 'it went very viral. I wasn't expecting that,' Campillo says. 'It was all over the news, all over people's social media in Mexico and the U.S. I didn't realize how many different opinions were going to be expressed about it. It was a little bit overwhelming, and just for a second, I regretted it. But then I saw how proud Mexican Americans felt about it, and it felt like it was something bigger than me.' He now plans to donate a portion of the profits to organizations supporting transgender people and unaccompanied minors. That said, he adds, 'I don't think wearing a T-shirt is going to change anything, really.' There is power in a fashion statement, but only to a degree. 'We say in Mexico that it's easier when the griefs are shared, so that was the intention more than anything. I think it's just a symbol should stick together, right?' A version of this story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of ELLE. GET THE LATEST ISSUE OF ELLE
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Corinne Bailey Rae added to Lytham Festival line-up alongside Stevie Wonder
Corinne Bailey Rae will join global superstar Stevie Wonder for the opening night of Lytham Festival. The double Grammy winner will be the opening artists for the four-day festival which runs from Thursday, July 3 to Sunday, July 6. Corinne Bailey Rae (Picture: Cuffe&Taylor)Bailey Rae shot to stardom with her self-titled Number One debut album in 2006, featuring the global hits Put Your Records On and Like A Star. Opening night headliner Stevie Wonder is one of the most celebrated figures in popular music having sold more than 100 million records around the world. Read also: 'I'm just the warm-up man' says Pete Waterman Friday July 4 sees songwriter and musician Alanis Morissette headlining with support from US singer-songwriter Liz Phair, Train and indie pop band Lottery Winners. Lytham will then welcome Justin Timberlake with his The Forget Tomorrow World Tour on Saturday, July 5. Joining Justin will be f Jess Glynne and Norwegian singer-songwriter Dagny, while up and coming new band CTRL will open the night. Stevie Wonder (Picture: Jung Ho Park)The closing night of Lytham Festival on Sunday, July 6 will see a double headlining set from global rock icons and Scottish legends Simple Minds and Texas with support from Cast. There is also set to be a special tribute to The Alarm's Mike Peters who died in April following a long illness, while legendary music mogul Pete Waterman will kick off the night with his Hitman DJ set. Lytham Festival co-founder Peter Taylor said: 'Lytham Festival 2025 is almost upon us and we can't wait to return to The Green to welcome the incredible line up we have this year. 'The addition of Corinne Bailey Rae to support the icon that is Stevie Wonder will present a stunning opening to our festival, and we are also making final plans to present a suitable tribute to The Alarm following the sad death of Mike Peters.' For tickets, visit
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
DC Casts Lead Actor in Highly Anticipated New Superhero Film
DC Casts Lead Actor in Highly Anticipated New Superhero Film originally appeared on Parade. As more and more details are released surrounding DC's upcoming slew of projects, the company has confirmed the casting of Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries in the title role of 2026's upcoming Clayface film. The casting comes as something of a surprise for most fans of the famed comic book company. Rather than opting for an easily recognizable name among viewers, the 32-year-old Harries is more readily known for roles in short-lived series like Apple TV+'s Suspicion and Netflix's White Lines. According to Deadline, Harries was selected over several equally talented young actors from the United Kingdom, including The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' Tom Blyth, Sinners' Jack O'Connell and 1917's George MacKay. The film will be directed by James Watkins of Speak No Evil fame, with Doctor Sleep filmmaker Mike Flanagan and Drive writer Hossein Amini providing various iterations of Clayface's script. In contrast to most other superhero films, Clayface exists as something of a rarity in mainstream comic book fandom. Rather than focusing on a well-known character like Batman or Wonder Woman, the film will instead follow the Dark Knight's comparatively lesser-known villain Clayface, a B-movie character who transforms into a horrific shape-shifting monster. Rather than existing as a straightforward villains' origin story, the film will instead act as an R-rated body horror film similar to 1986's The Fly or The Substance, as reported by SlashFilm. Further details surrounding the film have yet to be released, but the film is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on September 11, 2026. Clayface will follow in the footsteps of its fellow buzz-worthy DCU release, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which will debut in theaters on June 26 next year. Filming is expected to take place later this year in October, with further details likely to be announced by DC in the coming months. DC Casts Lead Actor in Highly Anticipated New Superhero Film first appeared on Parade on Jun 17, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
