Sir Paul McCartney
Beatles Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr are said to be working on a new album with their nemesis band The Rolling Stones
The two groups have endured – and enjoyed – decades of rivalry.
Sir Paul is reported by the show business website Variety to have laid down his bass tracks for the project.
And Sir Ringo (Richard Starkey) is booked at the same studios in Los Angeles to record the drum parts.
Variety claims the album is close to being mixed – but there is no release date.
The two bands – who have jointly sold more than one billion records – were arch rivals throughout the 60s.
Most of the banter was light-hearted though occasionally one would say something that hit home.
In 2021 McCartney jokingly said of the Stones:
“They’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are.
“I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs.”
Weeks later Sir Mick, 79, hit back when he spotted Sir Paul in the audience that he would “join us in a blues cover.”
He also said The Stones were still a touring band – unlike The Beatles who broke up in the early 70s.
Sir Paul, 80, posted on his official website what he was looking forward to in 2023:
He wrote: “I’ve been recording with a couple of people, so I’m looking forward to doing even more.
“I’ve started working with this producer called Andrew Watt, and he’s very interesting — we’ve had some fun.
“Beyond that, I don’t have anything massive planned … at the moment!”
The groups’ members have previously played or sang on each other’s recordings.
In 1967 John Lennon sang backing vocals on the Stones’ single “We Love You”.
And Brian Jones played saxophone on The Beatles’ track “You Know My Name”.