Paul McCartney couldn’t be happier that Beyoncé covered one of his most treasured hits.
The founding Beatles member posted a heartfelt tribute Thursday after Beyoncé included a dulcet cover of “Blackbird” in her latest album, “Cowboy Carter.” McCartney, who wrote the 1968 song in an era of high racial tensions, was glad its message is still being received.
“I am so happy with [Beyoncé’s] version of my song ‘Blackbird,’” the 81-year-old wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of him with the singer. “I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place.”
McCartney wrote the song in a decade that included the assassinations of several civil rights leaders, but was originally inspired by the Little Rock Nine, a group of Black students in Arkansas who were among the first to help desegregate schools in the U.S.
“When I saw the footage on the television in the early 60s of the black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can’t believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now,” McCartney wrote Thursday.
The beloved Briton added that Beyoncé thanked him for “letting her” cover the song during a FaceTime chat in which he claimed “the pleasure was all mine.” McCartney has thus joined several other notable names in praising Beyoncé over the past week for her album.
The Grammy queen hasn’t been welcomed by everyone in the country music community, however. Beyoncé recalled pushback when she “first entered this genre” in a recent Instagram post, which many believe was a reference to her performance with the Dixie Chicks.