(New York) The two living Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, are playing a cover of their famous Let It Be on the next album by American country megastar Dolly Parton, the 77-year-old musician announced Friday.
The singer will release her 49th album, Rockstar, on November 17, consisting of nine original titles and 21 covers of rock and pop songs, including Let It Be, according to a press release on her official website which offers a preview of the recording of the famous composition taken from the Beatles.
“What could be better than singing Let It Be with Paul McCartney who not only wrote it but also played it on the piano? ! Even better when Ringo Starr joined on drums, Peter Framton on guitar and Mick Fleetwood on percussion,” Dolly Parton said on her site, after trade media Billboard and Variety revealed the information on Friday.
“Seriously: how do you do better? Thanks guys ! added Parton, also greeting Briton Mick Fleetwood, 76, drummer and co-founder of the rock band Fleetwood Mac, and American-British Peter Framton, 73.
According to Billboard, bringing together Paul McCartney, 81, and Ringo Starr, 83, for a lively cover of a title from their legendary group is a feat. The two former Beatles rarely meet again: in 2020 on a Starr track and in 2019 at a McCartney concert.
The song Let It Be is taken from the eponymous album of May 1970, the last opus of the “four boys in the wind” who had announced their separation on April 10 of the same year. The ten-year career of Paul McCartney, John Lennon (murdered in December 1980 at age 40), George Harrison (died November 2001 at age 58) and Ringo Starr changed the history of music, with a dozen best-selling albums selling nearly a billion units and several films.
The Rockstar record, with its 30 original tracks and covers by Dolly Parton, marks, according to Billboard, the entry into rock of this “national treasure” of country music, born in a poor environment in Tennessee. With 3,000 titles and 100 million records sold, she entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November, the American pantheon of rock and popular music.
On Rockstar, Parton has invited among others Elton John, Sting, John Fogerty, Pat Benatar, Lizzo, Steven Tyler from Aerosmith or Simon LeBon from Duran Duran. She has also already previewed Queen covers (We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions) on her site.