The Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Reunite in London

It was a great day for Beatles fans yesterday, as the iconic former bandmates reunited on stage.

As Paul McCartney finished up touring for the year with a momentous gig in his home country, in a city full of Beatles landmarks, he welcomed a familiar face to the stage. Performing at London’s O2 Arena, McCartney surprised lucky fans in attendance when he teased, “We’ve got another surprise for you”, pausing before announcing he was “bringing to the stage the mighty, the one and only, Mr Ringo Starr”, to which the crowd erupted into excited and astonished cheers.

During the show’s encore, the pair performed Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) and Helter Skelter together with Starr on drums and McCartney on vocals and bass guitar. It was definitely not the ideal concert to leave early to skip the traffic.

Not only did his old bandmate make an appearance, but The Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood also joined him for Get Back earlier in the evening. The audience bought the tickets expecting to see a music legend, and ended up seeing three instead. His performance with Wood was made extra special as it was the first time he had played his original bass guitar on stage in over 50 years.

The bass was stolen in 1972 and was recently discovered early this year after a long investigation, named The Lost Bass Project, finally helped reunite McCartney with his instrument. Following major media coverage and many crucial tip-offs, the team was able to track down the bass which had ended up in the attic of a home in South England.

McCartney has been on the Got Back tour since April 2022 with the London show being the final stop to a tremendous run. What began in Spokane, Washington in the US, saw McCartney perform in Australia, South America, Mexico and Europe. Ending in the UK, where McCartney is from, being reunited with his beloved instrument, and having Starr as a surprise guest was a truly full circle moment and a special way to close out 2024.

Starr is also heading out on his own tour in June 2025 across the US, which you can grab tickets for now.