Carpool Karaoke: See Paul McCartney and James Corden sing 'Penny Lane' on Penny Lane (original) (raw)

Published on June 22, 2018 01:32AM EDT

James Corden picked up a primo passenger for a carpool ride whilst in England on Thursday night: Paul McCartney.

The Beatles legend gamely rode shotgun for an epic edition of Carpool Karaoke — running more than 20 minutes — that aired on the final night of _The Late Late Show_’s week of London-based shows.

McCartney gave Corden an intimate tour of Liverpool, a.k.a. the birthplace of the Beatles, and along the way, they cruised through the Fab Four’s greatest hits, including “Drive My Car,” “Blackbird,” and “When I’m 64.”

After teasing the first song he ever wrote, the rather catchy “I Lost My Little Girl,” McCartney set course for a trip down memory lane — as well as the actual Penny Lane, which they completed with a rendition of “Penny Lane.” The musical legend made a pitstop into his old barbershop and the house in which he spent his teenage years. Along the way, he discussed the inspirations behind and places where he wrote classic songs, showing Corden the room in which he and John Lennon used to rehearse “She Loves You,” and how McCartney’s dad thought the chorus should sound less American and they should sing, “She loves you/Yes, yes, yes,” instead of the very American “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” The former Beatle also explained how “Let It Be” came from a dream he had in the ’60s in which his deceased mother reassured him that “It’s going to be okay. Just let it be.”

Their performance of that song left Corden in tears. “I can remember my granddad, who’s a musician, and my dad sitting me down and saying, ‘We’re going to play you the best song you’ve ever heard,’” he said. “And I remember them playing that. If my granddad was here right now, he’d get an absolute kick out of this.” “He is,” returned McCartney.

The duo finished their journey at the Philharmonic, an old pub McCartney used to play at, and they gave lucky patrons a good jolt: When bargoers selected a song in the jukebox, a curtain would drop and McCartney and his band would perform such hits as “Hard Day’s Night,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Love Me Do, and “Back in the USSR.” Corden was lucky enough to be invited onstage to join McCartney to bring down the house — which contained a few stunned, teary-eyed fans — with an all-voices-on-deck rendition of “Hey Jude.”

Check it out above.