In a recent interview with Scott Lipps, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt shared his experience meeting and working with legendary musician Paul McCartney and how the Beatle didn’t disappoint.
Bettencourt, who had the opportunity to collaborate with McCartney, described the moment he decided to accept the invitation. Jay Brown had offered him the chance to work with McCartney, and despite initial hesitation, Bettencourt quickly changed his mind when he realized who he would be working with.
He recounted the excitement and nervousness of being in the presence of a Beatle and the surprise of McCartney’s down-to-earth demeanor. Bettencourt also shared a heartwarming story of McCartney’s interaction with his brother Robert, demonstrating the musician’s kindness and genuine nature.
Nuno Bettencourt’s words about meeting Paul McCartney read:
“Jay Brown had hit me up and said, ‘Hey, you want to do, you know I got something for you.’ I was like, ‘No man, I love it, but I got to get back to extreme,’ and he goes, ‘Oh okay, it’s a shame because it’s with Paul McCartney,’ and of course, I’m on the runway, and I’m like, ‘Let me check my schedule, yes, of course, I’m there.’ So I went straight there, and you think, ‘Oh my God, okay, don’t just don’t freak out he’s a Beatle, I know it’s Paul, it’s your childhood, it’s life, it’s oxygen, it’s everything music.’
He comes in, and he’s like, ‘What’s up man, let’s play,’ and he gives you a big hug and a kiss, and he gives a hug to the guy mopping the floor. No ego, no nothing; it was just amazing. He was like a 17-year-old walking in there like youthful, and he’s like, ‘Let’s play, let’s jam man,’ and he pulls his guitar, and he’s asking me how this song goes, and I’m showing him four or five seconds. I’m like face to face, you know, practically making out with Paul McCartney here and but it was one of those things where you’re in the room and you’re talking to him about [John] Lennon, you’re asking about songwriting collaborations, and then at one point I thought rehearsals were done and I walk over.”
He added:
“I want to tell my brother, Robert, who is, you know, he’s probably the reason why we listen to The Beatles, and I’m on my phone, and of course, Paul comes back in. I thought he was gone; walks right behind me and he goes, ‘Who are you talking to?’ and I said, ‘Oh, I’m just talking to my brother Robert,’ he goes grabs the phone comes over; my brother Robert just saw him at Fenway Park not too long ago what a great guy and he puts his arm around me, and he goes, ‘Hey Robert, hey Robert, I’m here with your little bro man.’ Robert’s just silent; he’s just staring like, what am I looking at? It’s Nuno and Paul McCartney, and he had no idea.
But what a sweet guy to go and say hi to my brother because he knew he was a big fan. The experience with Paul was everything you had hoped for because when you meet your hero, in this case, God, it can go bad. I’ve had situations where I wish I hadn’t met some people that really meant a lot to me, but this was not the case; he was like, man, I’m just like you. I want to play; I just want to jam, and it was amazing, man.”
Nuno’s experience with Paul McCartney and his gesture to talk to his brother is why he believes McCartney is a hero one wouldn’t be disappointed to meet especially considering some ‘heroes’ don’t live up to their name in the entertainment industry.
