How Steve Martin Convinced Paul McCartney to Sing a Bluegrass Song

When people hear the name Paul McCartney, bluegrass probably isn’t the first genre of music to come to mind. But Only Murders in the Building star and musician Steve Martin used his connections to get in touch with the rocker and convince him to sing one of his songs.

Though McCartney initially questioned the actor, he eventually decided it was something he could be on board with. And after that, “he was completely game,” not to mention charming, Martin revealed.

Steve Martin is a Grammy-winning bluegrass star

Many people know Martin for his acting and comedy talents, but not everyone knows he’s a bluegrass banjo player. He’s a five-time Grammy winner, nabbing his first for comedy in 1977 and his first for music in 2001, per the Grammy Awards website.

Martin explained his love for bluegrass began in childhood. “I fell in love with the four-string banjo … When I was 11, I would go to Disneyland to see the Golden Horseshoe Revue, and there was a four-string banjo player,” he said (per The Bluegrass Situation).

“When I worked at Knott’s Berry Farm, there was a four-string banjo player there, too,” he noted, adding, “But, we all know that five is better.”

Steve Martin said Paul McCartney was ‘completely game’ while recording a bluegrass song with him

In his illustrated memoir Number One Is Walking, Martin shared the story of convincing the former Beatle to sing a bluegrass song he’d written called “Best Love,” featured on 2011’s Rare Bird Alert, a bluegrass album he recorded with the Steep Canyon Rangers.

When Martin first connected with McCartney, the rocker wanted to know why he didn’t want to sing the song since he wrote it. He replied that he was a “terrible singer,” but he sent a demo featuring his vocals.

McCartney initially thought he would be singing backup and that Martin was “being humble” by diminishing his singing skills. However, after he heard Martin crooning on the demo, he realized he wasn’t and agreed to sing the whole song.

So, Martin rented a recording studio near McCartney to make it happen. “The studio was in a bedroom, and the recording booth was actually a closet,” he noted in his memoir. “Paul would go into the closet and close the door. He was completely game and charmed all of us. He wanted to do the best possible job.”

Steve Martin hopes to get the ‘sound of the banjo out there to the broader world’ through his bluegrass music

Martin told The Bluegrass Situation that if “anyone picks up the banjo” after being inspired by hearing him, “it’s because they fell in love with the sound of the banjo.”

“I regard myself as someone who’s expressing the sound of the banjo rather than being a superior, technical player …,” he explained. The Planes, Trains, and Automobiles actor noted, “What I do is get the sound of the banjo out there to a broader world, I guess.”