Beatles Duo For Olympics?

Could the remaining living members of The Beatles be planning a performance together at the opening ceremony of the event in London next year? The rumour mill has been set off by the usual unnamed sources in trashy British tabloids, but it appears that even Paul McCartney isn’t willing to deny the hyperbole.

He says that organisers  “are planning [Beatles] sort of music”, before later joking “I met the guy who knows the guy who’s going to ask somebody about it soon.”

“I hear there’s a rumour that I might be involved,” McCartney revealed to reporters, before cautioning that he didn’t really know much about it. “I’ve not actually heard anything [specific] about it yet … but they are now planning the music.”

The apparent moved by organisers to secure McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr appears to stem from a proposal by Sir Stephen Redgrave, a British champion rower, to have a line up of British rock n’ roll greats perform at the event.

“If Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo came together with great bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols it would be fantastic,” he says. “We have to show the world what we are good at.” London’s The Sun, never afraid of wild speculation, is suggesting that the children of the late John Lennon and George Harrison could take their fathers’ places in a ‘reformed Beatles’.

While a completely outlandish suggestion, it sure beats the proposed Spice Girls and Girls Aloud reformations also proposed for the event.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine