Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Paul McCartney has reflected on the unforgettable day The Beatles met Elvis Presley, calling it one of those surreal “pinch yourself” moments.
McCartney and the rest of The Beatles famously crossed paths with Presley just once in 1965, when they visited his Los Angeles home during a meeting arranged by NME writer Chris Hutchins.
Now, during a new appearance on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks Of My Years, McCartney looked back on the legendary encounter and shared his memories of the late rock and roll icon.
“He was really great. He was a very handsome guy, but we kind of knew that. We were fans.
“We just followed everything he did, and we looked at any photo we could get. He wasn’t a disappointment at all,” McCartney said.
He went on to explain that over the years he and his former bandmates, including Ringo Starr, have often discussed the meeting, although everyone seems to remember parts of it differently.
“I say that we rang the doorbell and Elvis came to the door and said, ‘come in guys’,” he recalled. “He invited us in and we sat around and he had a jukebox, and played ‘Mohair Sam’, the record.
“Ringo says he didn’t come to the door, we went in and he was sitting there. So who’s right? I am,” he joked.
McCartney described the evening as a special experience and remembered Presley casually picking up a bass guitar during the visit.
“He had a bass there and he was talking about the bass so we could talk, sort of, bass talk. He was great, very personable, very nice.
“He had a bunch of his minders with him, and you read stuff later, and I think they were mainly his cousins, his gang.”
The Beatles legend also remembered meeting Priscilla Presley, describing that part of the night as another standout memory.
“You’re inviting four guys into your home, probably the last thing you need is them to be all over your wife.
“It was great, she was great, Elvis was great,” he continued, before adding: “You pinch yourself. I met, I actually sat with, like I’m sitting with you, Elvis.”
McCartney has previously named Presley as one of the major inspirations behind The Beatles’ landmark album ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.
In other news, McCartney is preparing to release his new album ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’ on May 29. The project has already been previewed with tracks including ‘Days We Left Behind’ and ‘Home To Us’, which marks his first official duet with Ringo Starr.
Ahead of the release, McCartney was also interviewed by actor Paul Mescal, who is set to portray him in the upcoming Beatles biopic series.
Currently titled The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, the movies have been written by Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan and Jack Thorne. The cast includes Mescal as McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr. The films are currently scheduled for release in April 2028.
McCartney later joked about Mescal taking on the role during his recent appearance on the final episode of The Late Show. After performing ‘Hello, Goodbye’ with host Stephen Colbert before symbolically turning off the lights inside the Ed Sullivan Theatre, he was asked which of them was more attractive.
McCartney smiled, pointed to himself and answered: “Me.”
After the audience reacted with applause and laughter, he quickly clarified that he was joking, adding: “No, he’s very cute, he’s very cute.”
Elsewhere, McCartney has also recently spoken about struggling to understand what songs Bob Dylan was playing during a concert, why he dislikes taking selfies, and why he still finds much of influencer culture confusing.
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Tributes have been shared following the passing of West Coast house producer DJ Dan, who has died at the age of 57. He was remembered as a “beloved, genre defying” figure in the scene.
Confirmation of his passing came from one of his representatives on Sunday, March 29, through a statement provided to Billboard. At this time, no details about the cause of death have been made public.
“It is with profound sorrow, deep admiration, and an enduring sense of gratitude and love that we announce the passing of Daniel Wherrett, known professionally to the world simply as DJ Dan,” the statement said, also calling him “one of the most beloved, genre-defying, and genuinely influential pioneers in the history of American electronic music.”
“He leaves behind not just a discography, but a culture, a way of feeling music that touched millions of souls across four decades and five continents. He often said he felt his purpose in life was ‘to heal through music.’”
DJ Dan had been scheduled to perform at Dead Ringer in Nevada on Saturday, March 28, but fans were informed only hours before the show that it would no longer take place and refunds would be issued. In a short message posted on Instagram, organisers only said that “unfortunately DJ Dan is unable to make it tonight.”
Further comments from Wherrett’s representatives described him as “a man who saw music in colours”, adding that his DJ sets were a “vision translated into something audiences felt in their bodies long before they understood it with their minds.”
“Off the stage, he was a cook, a traveler, an obsessive record collector whose family bought him a new turntable every Christmas, not because it was tradition, but because it was the only gift he ever wanted,” they continued.
“He leaves behind his music, his label, his mixes, and the countless thousands of dancers who found themselves, truly found themselves, in the middle of one of his sets. The world is quieter today. But press play on anything he touched, and you will hear exactly why we mourn him, and exactly why we are forever grateful he was here to inspire us.”
Since the news broke, fans have been sharing messages online to honour the late DJ. One fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “DJ Dan made some of the first mixtapes that got me into raving when I was young. So sad to hear this news,” while another posted: “RIP to a very formative person in how I entered into all of it.”
Another tribute read: “House music helped define an entire era of my life. DJ Dan was someone who shaped so many of my friends into the DJs they become,” while someone else shared: “RIP DJ Dan. A superbly nice person, fortunate to have known him and call him a friend.” More tributes can be found below.
Born Daniel Wherrett in Washington, DJ Dan originally studied design before relocating to California in the early 1990s to fully focus on electronic music. He later helped establish the Funky Tekno Tribe and became a key figure within the West Coast underground electronic scene.
By 1998, he had recorded ‘Essential Mixes’ for the BBC, and in 2004 he reached Number One on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart with ‘That Phone Track’. Earlier releases including ‘Needle Damage’ from 1999 and ‘That Zipper Track’ and ‘Put That Record Back On’ from 2001 also charted on the Official Charts.
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