Paul McCartney delivered an unforgettable and deeply emotional performance at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival, reuniting — in spirit and song — with his late Beatles bandmate John Lennon.
During a historic headline set, the 80-year-old legend brought the crowd to tears when he used a video screen to duet with Lennon on the Beatles classic “I’ve Got a Feeling.” Earlier in the night, McCartney had already thrilled fans by welcoming Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and rock icon Bruce Springsteen to the stage, but the surprise collaboration with Lennon stood as the evening’s most poignant moment.
The last time McCartney and Lennon recorded vocals together was during a laid-back studio jam in 1974, and their final posthumous collaboration came in 1996 with the Beatles’ release of “Real Love.” Now, as part of his Got Back tour, McCartney crafted a powerful new version of “I’ve Got a Feeling,” syncing his live vocals with isolated footage of Lennon from 1969.
Though McCartney often revisits songs from the Beatles’ catalog in his concerts, this moment was particularly rare — few times before had he incorporated archival footage into a live performance. While Queen famously used old clips of Freddie Mercury during their 2005 shows, McCartney’s use of Lennon’s voice was a first for him, offering an extraordinary treat for Beatles fans around the world.
Earlier in the evening, McCartney also paid tribute to another fallen bandmate, George Harrison, with a touching ukulele performance of Harrison’s classic “Something” — a cover he has occasionally brought into his setlists over the years. McCartney’s tributes to his friends are longstanding; he wrote the heartfelt song “Here Today” in 1982 to honor Lennon, capturing the complexity and deep affection of their friendship.
Reflecting on “Here Today,” McCartney once shared: “It was a love song really — not to John, but about John, about what we meant to each other. I wanted to get out from behind my own defenses and say what I felt.”
The Got Back tour also highlights songs from McCartney III, an album born out of the Covid-19 lockdown — what McCartney playfully dubbed his period of “rockdown.” The album completed a trilogy that had been half a century in the making, beginning with McCartney in 1970.
During the emotional Glastonbury duet, the vocals from Lennon were sourced and cleaned up during Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary project, making the moment even more powerful. After the song ended, McCartney, visibly moved, told the crowd, “That’s so special for me, man. I know it’s virtual, but come on — it’s John. We’re back together.”
