Sir Paul McCartney has compared his approach to playing the hits live to Bob Dylan’s aversion to doing the same. During a recent appearance on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, Macca said he doesn’t mind the repetition of playing classics if it means satisfying fans.
“If you’re going out to do a show, I know who’s in my audience most of the time,” he explained. “It’s kind of families. So it can be granddads sort of my age, or it can be their kids, and then it could be their kids. So, it’s quite a spread. So, I think, well, we could do songs they don’t know. I have a lot of black holes. But they’ve paid a lot of money.”
In contrast, McCartney shared his experience of attending Dylan’s shows. “I’ve been to see a couple of shows of Bob’s, and I couldn’t tell what song he was doing,” he recalled. “Now that’s a bit much, because I know his stuff. I get it if he doesn’t want to do ‘Mr. Tambourine Man.’ Maybe he’s fed up with that, but I would like to hear it. And I’ve paid.”
Watch the full episode below. The relevant segment starts around the 25-minute mark.
Elsewhere in the podcast episode, McCartney spoke about how performing “Hey Jude” temporarily unites fans in “Trump’s America.”
McCartney is gearing up to release his latest album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, on May 29th. It features his first-ever duet with Ringo Starr, “Home to Us.”
And if you don’t have an issue with Dylan’s setlists, the troubadour is set to resume his 2026 US tour in early June, with dates stretching through early August. Get tickets here.
