Paul McCartney, Rihanna And Kanye West To Perform At Grammys … But Why?
Sir Paul McCartney is a regular at the Grammy awards ceremony and the Mirror is reporting that this year’s ceremony will see McCartney take the stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 8. This year, however, the Mail reports that a source told the Sun that the 72-year-old McCartney will be joining Rihanna and Kanye West for a rendition of their collaboration, “Four Five Seconds.”
Former Beatles star McCartney performed at last year’s ceremony alongside his Beatles band-mate Ringo Starr, and has scooped an incredible 18 Grammys throughout his lengthy career. A source told the Sun that 26-year-old Rihanna is “seriously pleased to have bagged a big slot at The Grammys and two huge names to kick off her comeback.”
“Paul McCartney is a Grammys regular and it will give Rihanna serious kudos to have a Beatle backing her on stage. It is going to be a huge Grammys moment.”
Rihanna has had more than a two-year gap since her last album was released in 2012 so having McCartney playing keyboard on her new record will doubtless provide the 26-year-old pop princess with some much needed exposure and a boost as she hits the comeback trail.
McCartney has of course collaborated with Kanye West before, they got together last year to write the love song “Only One” – devoted to West’s young daughter with Kim Kardashian, North.
The BBC point out that Paul McCartney is one of music’s most celebrated and enduring artists of the 20th century, selling more than 100 millions albums as part of the Beatles, Wings, and as a solo artist. Kanye West fans were recently asking who McCartney was suggesting that despite a stellar career the former Beatle is largely unknown within the musical genres that both West and Rihanna operate in.
While McCartney has recently indicated that he does appreciate rap music – saying that his most recent album purchases were works by Jay-Z and Kanye West – it is difficult to see what these collaborators gain from working together. It unlikely that rap fans, who had never heard of McCartney a few weeks ago, are going to rush out to delve into McCartney’s back catalog.
It is equally unlikely that McCartney fans will be drawn into the world of West and Rihanna. The Guardian even goes so far as to say that McCartney’s collaboration with West and Rihanna is “not the greatest single you’ll hear this week – in fact, it’s possibly one of the most rubbish singles you’ll hear all year – but it does succeed in keeping McCartney in the public eye.”
Paul McCartney has a long history of collaborations with the likes of Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder and many others. Why does he do it? It may simply be because he can.
[Image – Vanity Fair]
