Paul McCartney Commissioned to Write Ballet

Paul McCartney has rocked everywhere from rooftops to David Letterman's marquee, but his next project is far more delicate: He's been asked to write music for a ballet. Not much is known about the ballet, including which company commissioned the Beatles great to write it. However, McCartney tells the BBC he jumped at the chance to take on a musical opportunity he hadn't yet explored. "I'm interested in doing things I haven't done before. That offer came up and I love writing music, the two went together and I said, 'Yeah,' so I just accept things before I even know what I'm doing," McCartney said. "I don't really know that much about it yet. I'm just writing music for it, but it's a switch!"

Outside of his work as a Beatle and solo artist, McCartney has also written the soundtrack for a film (1967's The Family Way), composed four classical music releases, and made forays into electronica (his Fireman side project) and remixing (2000's Liverpool Sound Collage.)

It's been a year of firsts for McCartney, who recently was the first non-American recipient of the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song honored with an all-star tribute at the White House. And on his latest Up and Coming Tour, McCartney's been visiting markets and cities he's never played before. As Rolling Stone previously reported, McCartney will cap off a busy year by reissuing Wings' Band on the Run with remastered sound and bonus tracks this August.

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Song Stories

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry | 1984

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.

More Song Stories entries »

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