Sir Paul McCartney was "very happy" that Guns N' Roses covered 'Live and Let Die'

In a recent episode of his podcast McCartney: A Life In Lyrics, Sir Paul McCartney looked back at Live and Let Die - the theme song he wrote and recorded for the 1973 James Bond film of the same name.

The song, which Paul recorded with his band Wings, became the highest-charting Bond theme song up to that time, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was later famously covered by Guns N’ Roses.

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“I thought it was pretty good, actually,” he said of Guns N’ Roses' 1991 version of the song. “I was more amazed that they would do it, this sort of young American group.”

Paul also revealed that at one point, his younger children had a hard time convincing their schoolmates that their father composed the tune.

“[M]y kids went to school and they would say, ‘My dad wrote that.’ [And other kids would say,] ‘No [he] didn’t. It’s Guns N’ Roses,’” 

“Nobody would ever believe them.”

Paul reiterated that he was “very happy” the hard-rock band had covered his song, adding, “I always like people doing my songs … it’s a great compliment.” He also pointed out that it doesn’t hurt his bank account either.

He also said he didn’t feel Live and Let Die rated among the very best Bond themes, maintaining that he considered songs like From Russia with Love and Goldfinger more “Bond-ian,” but he also noted that “a lot of people put it on their lists and put it top of the list, actually."

McCartney: A Life In Lyrics was inspired by McCartney’s 2021 book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, which features profiles of 154 of his songs.

You can hear a weekly episode exclusively on Coast Sunday evenings at 9 or listen on iHeartRadio below.

- Written by Bang! Showbiz and republished with permission