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 McCartneyon 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 previouslycommendedBeyoncé’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 McCartneywroteon 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 theLittle 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.”