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Paul McCartney has a teleprompter on stage to help him remember Beatles songs

When his memories lose their meaning, technology comes to the rescue.

Paul McCartney onstage

Photo: Gustavo Caballero / Getty Images

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What would Paul McCartney do if he sang out of tune? Refer to a teleprompter, of course.

The Beatle recently revealed that he has an autocue handy on stage, just in case he forgets the lyrics to Beatles tunes and needs to get back to where he once belonged.

The 78-year-old rock icon, speaking in an episode of SmartLess, admitted that there are times on stage where his mind may wander on a long and winding road.

“Sometimes I’ll be doing a song, like Eleanor Rigby or something, and I’m on autopilot.”

“And I’m starting to think, ‘Oh, what am I gonna have for dinner? Maybe you won’t have the soup but maybe you’ll just go for the main course’.

“Then I go, ‘Stop!’ because I’m singing Eleanor Rigby! I’ve separated myself not only from Paul and fame, but a couple of bits in my head are going in different places.”

He added: “Sometimes that breaks down and I forget the song. I have a teleprompter.”

With 13 Beatles studio albums, on top of 24 albums as a solo artist and with Wings, McCartney’s repertoire is vast. However, the Beatle is far from done with putting out new material; this year he announced McCartney III, his third self-titled solo recording.

In a statement, McCartney explained how his latest record had come together: right now, staying creative – even in lockdown – was just a day in the life for him.

“I was living lockdown life on my farm with my family and I would go to my studio every day,” he said. “Had to do a little bit of work on some film music and that turned into the opening track. And then when it was done, I thought, ‘What will I do next?’”

He added: “So, I just did stuff I fancied doing. I had no idea this would end up as an album.”

McCartney III was originally planned for release on 11 December, but due to “unforeseeable production delays,” the album will instead arrive on 18 December.

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