Paul McCartney Performs Beatles Hit 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' for First Time in 60 Years at Taylor Swift's Wedding

Paul McCartney performed the beloved Beatles No 1 hit I Want to Hold Your Hand for the first time in 60 years at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding.

McCartney performed the number at the star-studded reception at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday, People magazine reported. The track was the Beatles’ first American No 1 hit, sparking Beatlemania in the US and the wave of British bands’ success nicknamed “the British invasion”.

The Beatles last performed the song in September 1964 at the Paramount theatre in New York. McCartney has never performed it in public since.

“After the ceremony, Taylor’s mom, Andrea, invited everyone into the reception room where the stage was set up,” an unnamed source told People, adding that the former Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks also performed.

McCartney, 84, and Swift, 36, appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone together in 2020 and have expressed their admiration for one another since. McCartney attended one of Swift’s Eras Tour concerts at Wembley Stadium in June 2024, where he was greeted by fans.

Two years later, Swift attended McCartney’s intimate concert at the Fonda theatre in Los Angeles. She recently shared an Instagram post from McCartney about his new solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, hailing him as an “eternally exceptional artist” whom she was “never not inspired” by.

Days earlier, McCartney was asked during an interview if he would give Swift any advice on navigating global fame. “You so see the parallel, you know the fame and the amount of fame,” he told BBC Sounds. “The worldwide fame that Taylor Swift has and that we had, but I don’t think she needs any advice, to tell you the truth.”

McCartney said that if Swift were to ask him for advice, he would “definitely” oblige. “I’m like the older brother to that generation, or more like the grandad, actually,” he said.

He said he met Swift and other young performers including Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter at parties hosted by his wife, Nancy Shevell, and daughter Stella. “They’re really cool people, they’re very good,” he said. “I like their voices. If they need any advice, I would be happy to give it, but I don’t think they do.”

The Beatles released I Want to Hold Your Hand in 1963 and it became the band’s bestselling single worldwide, selling more than 12m copies. The song would have gone straight to the top of the UK records charts on its day of release had it not been blocked by the Beatles’ first million-seller single, She Loves You.

But I Want to Hold Your Hand soon topped the charts, staying at number one for five weeks, including during Christmas, and remaining in the UK top 50 for 21 weeks.