McCartney Plays 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' at Swift Wedding
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- Paul McCartney performed 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's star-studded wedding reception at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday, per People magazine.
- The performance marked McCartney's first public rendition of the Beatles hit in 60 years — the band last played it in September 1964 at the Paramount Theatre in New York.
- Stevie Nicks, the former Fleetwood Mac vocalist, also performed at the reception, with an unnamed source telling People that Taylor's mom Andrea invited guests into the reception room where the stage was set up.
- McCartney and Swift have a documented personal connection: they shared a Rolling Stone cover in 2020, McCartney attended her Wembley Stadium Eras Tour show in June 2024, and Swift attended his intimate Fonda Theatre concert in Los Angeles two years later.
- Swift recently posted on Instagram about McCartney's new solo album 'The Boys of Dungeon Lane,' calling him an 'eternally exceptional artist' she was 'never not inspired' by.
- In a BBC Sounds interview days before the wedding, McCartney said he sees the parallel between his fame and Swift's but 'I don't think she needs any advice,' joking he feels 'like the older brother to that generation, or more like the grandad, actually.'
- 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' was released in 1963, became the Beatles' bestselling single worldwide at more than 12 million copies, and topped the UK charts for five weeks.
Why it matters: McCartney hadn't performed the song publicly since the Beatles played it at the Paramount Theatre in September 1964 — making a private Madison Square Garden wedding its unlikely revival venue. The moment caps a years-long mutual relationship between McCartney and Swift, from their 2020 Rolling Stone cover to her recent Instagram tribute to his new album 'The Boys of Dungeon Lane.'
