In a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show, Paul McCartney has laid down some hard-hitting truths.
Throughout the interview, McCartney and Howard touch on a range of subjects, most notably entering into the age-old debate: The Beatles vs The Rolling Stones.
After some questioning from Howard Stern, Paul McCartney confesses his opinion that The Beatles were indeed better than The Rolling Stones.
On Tuesday, The Beatles’ bassman talked with Howard Stern about quarantine, admiration for Billie Eilish, as well as expressing his views that Chinese wet markets should be banned – more on that here. Yet the highlight of the discussion was the reignition of the seemingly unending rivalry between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. It went like this.
“I’m not asking you to be pompous about this, The Beatles are better than the Rolling Stones. Am I correct?” Stern enquired.
After some brief laughter, McCartney responded: “You know you’re going to persuade me to agree on that one.” To McCartney’s credit, he did acknowledge how excellent The Stones are as a band.
“They are rooted in the blues. When they are writing stuff, it has to do with the blues. We had a little more influences. … There’s a lot of differences, and I love the Stones, but I’m with you. The Beatles were better.”
Stern then mentioned how the Stones attempted to create their own Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with their album Their Satanic Majesties Request. Sgt Peppers staying power is concrete proof of its genius, in 2017 hitting the top of the billboard charts, 50 years after its initial release.
McCartney agreed with Stern, describing: “We went to America and we had huge success. Then the Stones went to America. We did Sgt. Pepper, the Stones did a psychedelic album. There’s a lot of that.
“We were great friends, still are kind of. We admire each other,” he continued. “The Stones are a fantastic group. I go see them every time they’re out. They’re a great, great band.”
You can catch their chat for yourself below.
