Paul McCartney ranks Taylor Swift alongside The Beatles: ‘You do see the parallel’

At the height of Beatlemania, the Fab Four seemed untouchable with a string of hits that left them “more popular than Jesus”, as John Lennon famously claimed.

Now, Sir Paul McCartney, whose new album The Boys of Dungeon Lane is out this week, has finally named an artist he would rank alongside his former band – pop queen Taylor Swift.

In an interview with BBC Radio 2’s Tracks Of My Years, the 83-year-old music veteran expressed his admiration for the American pop singer, describing her as “clever” and a “very good” performer.

He thanked his wife and daughter for arranging for Swift and other “cool people” to attend a party he had hosted, in a show of appreciation for their talent.

Propelled by her devoted fan base of Swifties, the 36-year-old recently broke several records previously held by the Beatles. In October, she became the first artist to have seven songs simultaneously in the Global Chart Top 10, surpassing the Liverpudlian band’s record of six in 1964.

On Monday, McCartney, a revolutionary music figure during the 1960s, praised Swift: “You do see the parallel of the amount of fame and the worldwide fame that Taylor Swift has and that we had [as the Beatles].

“I do meet them [pop singers] – we had a party. My wife and my daughter Stella are very good at getting cool people to a party. A lot of those girls were at this party and I ended up chatting to them all because there was Taylor, there was Billie Eilish, there was Olivia Rodrigo, there was Sabrina Carpenter.

“They’re really cool people. They’re very good.”

Sir Paul and Swift have been compared before. Among the most successful artists of all time, they have sold hundreds of millions of albums, with songs streamed in the billions.

The Beatles’ world tours were often met with hysteria and screaming by female fans, akin to the fanaticism of the “Swifties”.

But Swift questioned comparisons with the Beatles during an interview in December.

Stephen Colbert, the host of The Late Show, suggested that the reception she received must have been similar to that of the Fab Four. She replied: “I don’t know, I think they had a whole thing going.”

In the BBC interview, Sir Paul also reminisced about his encounters with other superstars, including the evening the Beatles spent with Elvis Presley at his Los Angeles mansion in 1965 – an encounter he described as a “pinch yourself” moment. It was the only time he met the King of Rock and Roll.

He said: “He was really great. He was a very handsome guy – but we kind of knew that. We were fans. We just followed everything he did, and we looked at any photo we could get. He wasn’t a disappointment at all.”

Sir Paul said his recollection of the meeting differed from Ringo Starr’s, with their memories of what happened being “slightly skew-whiff”.

He said: “I say that we rang the doorbell and Elvis came to the door and said, ‘Come in, guys’. He invited us in and we sat around and he had a jukebox, and played Mohair Sam, the record.

“Ringo says he didn’t come to the door, we went in and he was sitting there. So who’s right? I am.

He also spoke about meeting Priscilla Presley, describing it as a “highlight”. “You’re inviting four guys into your home – probably the last thing you need is them to be all over your wife,” he joked.

“It was great, she was great, Elvis was great. You pinch yourself. I met – I actually sat with, like I’m sitting with you, Elvis,” he added.

The Boys of Dungeon Lane is out May 29

The Telegraph, London