LONDON (AP) — Paul McCartney has confirmed that his upcoming album, “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” will feature a duet with Ringo Starr titled “Home to Us.”
On Thursday evening, McCartney and producer Andrew Watt hosted a listening session for a small audience, sharing the stories behind each song on the album. When introducing “Home to Us,” McCartney explained that Starr’s involvement came late in the recording process and was not straightforward.
“I saw Ringo and said I worked with this guy Andrew,” McCartney said, according to Billboard. “Ringo came over to Andrew’s studio and played a little bit of drums.”
Starr initially believed his contribution was complete, but McCartney wanted more from the collaboration.
“I think Ringo thought that all he had to do was play a little bit of drums, and Andrew would make some marvelous thing out of it,” McCartney said, according to Variety. He added that after listening to Starr’s drumming, he thought, “Wow, that’s really good…We should make the track that Ringo hoped, and then get it over to him and complete the circle.”
McCartney then created a demo featuring lyrics about growing up in Liverpool and sent it to Starr, asking him to sing on it. However, Starr misunderstood the request and only recorded vocals for the chorus, leading McCartney to believe Starr was not interested in the song. After further discussion, Starr returned to the studio to add more drums and vocals.
Additional vocals by Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and Sharleen Spiteri of Texas were also added to the track.
“It’s a duet,” McCartney said at the listening session, confirming what many Beatles fans have long anticipated. “It was really nice, because we’ve never done that. Ringo’s never just taken a duet with one of the Beatles, you know? So, there you go. We had it.”
“The Boys of Dungeon Lane” is set for release on May 29.