Paul McCartney Points To The Two Modern Musicians That He Loves

Paul McCartney was a lyrical genius from a very young age and shows no sign of slowing down at age 80. He was also — in case you’d somehow forgotten — a part of The Beatles, the most influential band of all time, which changed the course of music forever and established his path as one of the most important rock ‘n’ roll artists in history.

Despite all his achievements, his love for his craft is immense as he still shows incredible interest in contemporary music, which has led him to point out two of his favorite musicians of the day.

Paul McCartney was influenced by Elvis Presley

McCartney, like every other young boy of his time, was particularly impressed by the music of the King of Rock and Roll. He grew so fond of Elvis that he started to play the guitar in 1956 and eventually joined The Beatles, which became the next big thing after the rock ‘n’ roll sensation.

“I started to see pictures of Elvis, and that started to pull me away from the academic path,” McCartney revealed. “‘You should see these photos…’ Then you’d hear the records — ‘but wait a minute, this is very good!’ – and then the tingles started going up and down your spine, ‘Oh, this is something altogether different.’ And so the academic things were forgotten.’

“I love Elvis, and he really was huge for us,” McCartney detailed. “And we ended up meeting him, which is a zany moment, because I do have to think, ‘Did I really meet him? Yeah, you did. Yeah, I really met Elvis.’ And was he cool? Yeah, he was really cool. And he lived up to all our expectations.”

Paul McCartney likes watching the Korean boy band BTS

McCartney commended the Korean boy band BTS, who has been scoring on the U.S. charts with hit songs like “Dynamite” and “Butter.” “I had just seen some kids go through what we went through. BTS, the Korean guys. I like watching them to see what’s going on,” he revealed. “I think they’re good. I couldn’t sing one of their songs.”

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Also, in 2019, McCartney made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he was asked if had heard about BTS. He responded, “Yes,” and Colbert went on to refer  to the boy band as “the biggest hit on the planet right now,” to which McCartney affirmed, “So I’ve heard.”

Paul enjoys Taylor Swift’s music

The musician also tagged Taylor Swift as one of his favorites. “There are some people, though, who are not just manufactured, like Taylor Swift,” he disclosed. “She’s, like, pretty cool.” McCartney enjoys Swift’s music so much that he claimed that her public persona inspired him to compose the song “Who Cares.”

“I was actually thinking about Taylor Swift and her relationship to her young fans and how it’s sort of a sisterly thing,” he explained while discussing the song during a BBC interview in 2018. “And I was imagining talking to one of these young fans and saying, ‘Have you ever been bullied? Do you get bullied?’”