Adam Levine Shares Paul McCartney’s 4-Word Response to Maroon 5’s Beatles Tributes — and the Reason He Later Said Sorry
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Levine described McCartney as having a “truly beautiful soul” and mentioned that he found the playful remark amusing.
Paying tribute to the greatest rock band of all time can be a daunting task — just ask Adam Levine.
The Maroon 5 lead singer shared a story about the time he performed Beatles songs in front of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, which led to a playful remark from McCartney.
Levine, 46, and guitarist James Valentine appeared on The Howard Stern Show on Thursday, April 10, where they reminisced about Maroon 5’s appearance on the 2014 CBS special The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles. During the special, they performed the Beatles’ classics “Ticket to Ride” and “All My Loving.”
The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ iconic performances on The Ed Sullivan Show, and Levine revealed that they were informed by producers that McCartney and Starr would be in the audience.
“Listen, man. I’ve told you I’ve been scared a few times in my life, and that was definitely one of them,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘Holy s—.’ I mean, I’m sorry, but you can try to act cool, but you just can’t when it’s Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. Forget it if you’re trying to play it cool about that.”
After the performance, the Misery singer ran into McCartney, who pulled him in for a quick chat.
“Paul kind of pulled me close and said, ‘You know, we did it better,’” Levine remembered. “I thought it was hilarious. I just laughed and said, ‘No kidding, you’re Paul McCartney.’”
A few months later, Levine was at a party when his wife, Behati Prinsloo, told him that McCartney was trying to get his attention.
“He came up to me and said, ‘Hey man, I just wanted to let you know, if that bothered you… I’ve been thinking about it. I didn’t mean to insult you or anything,’” Levine recalled. “It was something like that, like, if I offended you, I’m sorry. And I just said, ‘Oh my God, you’re fine. Dude, you’re Paul f—ing McCartney.’”
The experience was a positive one for Levine, who shared that it gave him a new perspective on the rock icon.
“It kind of shattered, in a good way, the whole idea of your heroes being untouchable,” he said. “He’s a real person with a heart and a beautiful soul who was thoughtful enough to consider that maybe I’d be hurt, even though I wasn’t.”
Earlier this week, Levine confirmed that Maroon 5 is currently working on new music and plans to tour later this year.
“There’s a single coming out at the end of the month or so. I’m really excited about it,” he shared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “An album will drop around the summer, though I’m not giving a specific date yet. And then, to be even vaguer, we’re planning a tour in the fall-ish.”
The upcoming album, which still doesn’t have a title, will follow 2021’s Jordi.