June 9, 2018: Paul McCartney’s Surprise Gig at Liverpool Pub

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On June 9, 2018, Paul McCartney was in his hometown of Liverpool, touring several Beatles-related spots on a Saturday afternoon with TV host James Corden, for an episode of the latter’s popular Carpool Karaoke feature. The visit culminated with a performance for a select few at the Philharmonic Pub on Hope Street. Amidst the set’s list of Beatles favorites like “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Love Me Do,” “I Wanna Be Your Man,” and “Lady Madonna,” Sir Paul premiered an upbeat, new song without revealing its title. (Watch “Come On to Me” below.) The 12-song set closed with “Hey Jude.”

As word got out about the surprise performance, the crowd was elbow-to-elbow.

When audience members shouted that they were celebrating a 60th birthday that day, McCartney said: “Today? Alright, we’ve got a song for you.” And to the assembled crowd: “Would you like to hear some new stuff? This hasn’t been released yet, but for you, this is the first time we’ve played it for anybody.”

While McCartney was visiting Liverpool, his social media team was busy teasing the upcoming album, Egypt Station. On that day, his Facebook and Twitter pages had replaced his profile picture with an all-white image.

Teaser #2 appeared on McCartney’s social media pages on June 10, 2018

The image was replaced on Sunday, June 10, with an all-black, hand drawn sketch resembling a tunnel. The teaser campaign continued for several days.

The new album was released by Capitol Records. McCartney returned to his longtime home in a new deal announced in 2016.

In December 2017, McCartney answered some questions on his website. He was asked: “What would you like to achieve in 2018?”

His reply: “I’ll probably be putting out a new album. So, I’d like that to be something I really love and then hopefully the fans will love it too! We’re putting the finishing touches to it now and at the beginning of next year. So, I would like to achieve making that a really great album. Fingers crossed! That’s not what it’s called, but fingers crossed! [Pauses] It could be… it COULD be the new album title!”

McCartney offered Teaser #3 on June 11 via his Twitter account

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— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) June 11, 2018

And on June 12 came Teaser #4 on Facebook and Twitter

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— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) June 12, 2018

In an interview with BBC Radio in March 2017, McCartney revealed that he’s been in the studio with American record producer Greg Kurstin, who has previously worked with such acts as Adele, Beck and Foo Fighters.

Watch McCartney sing “I Wanna Be Your Man” in Liverpool

Watch McCartney perform the new song, “Come On to Me”

McCartney’s oft-bootlegged, One Hand Clapping, was recorded live in the studio in 1974. It’s finally getting an official release on June 14, 2024. Pre-order is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here. And The McCartney Legacy Volume 2, from a noted Beatles author, is coming later this year. It’s available for pre-order in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.