Rihanna And Paul McCartney Are Still Friendly After Making FourFiveSeconds

For anybody who's lived under a rock, Paul McCartney was a member of The Beatles, along with John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. McCartney and Lennon wrote almost 200 songs together, most of which will forever be part of music history. NPR reports that despite Lennon and McCartney's rocky relationship, they took "joint credit for all songs they wrote," making it impossible to calculate who was the most talented out of them. Tragically, Lennon's career as a solo artist was cut short after he was shot dead by Mark David Chapman outside his Manhattan apartment block in 1980.

However, despite being an Octonegarian now, McCartney is still going strong, keeping it fresh and down with the kids. McCartney has joined forces with Linkin Park and Jay-Z, Super Furry Animals, Dave Grohl, and Kanye West, among others. "It's good to connect with different artists. The secret is I keep myself very open to suggestions — I still feel like I'm about 30," he told the Evening Standard.

McCartney admitted he'd been "flattered" that Ye wanted to work with him on "Only One." He was over the moon, though, when Rihanna was introduced to the mix for 2015's "FourFiveSeconds." McCartney and Rihanna became firm friends after they performed at the Grammy Awards. "Rihanna's something else," McCartney raved to GQ. "She's cool. So it was a great thrill, actually. I loved it." So did she, apparently, as Rihanna and Paul McCartney are still friendly after making FourFiveSeconds.

Paul McCartney wowed the crowds when he reunited with Rihanna in 2016. She made a surprise appearance during his "Desert Trip Music Festival" performance. The audience erupted after Rihanna shocked fans by strolling on stage to sing "FourFiveSeconds" with McCartney. The two had another reunion in 2019, which surprised both of them this time, as well as onlookers.

Rihanna and McCartney were aboard the same London-bound post-Turkey Day flight when they collided in the first-class cabin — and the love was still clearly strong. Rihanna proceeded to fangirl over McCartney, and he was totally there for it. She captured the cute encounter on camera and posted it as an Instagram Story with the hashtag #RihUnion. "I'm about to put you on blast, Mr. McCartney. How are you on my flight?!" Rihanna says in the clip. "What's going on here? Who is this filming me?" McCartney fires back as he stands by her seat. "Who is this peasant filming this legend?" Rihanna replies, laughing.

A copy of the video was also posted on Twitter by a fan. "Rihanna filming Paul McCartney on the plane, that's so wholesome," they captioned it. When it comes to the fangirling front, McCartney gives as good as he gets. The musician shared with GQ that one of the biggest lessons he learned from working with Rihanna was that "even someone who is hugely talented can be a very cool girl."

Proving it's possible to teach an old Beatle new tricks, Paul McCartney said the biggest lesson he learned from collaborating with Ye is that there's more than one way to create a track. "He curates all the ideas and puts them together, often with great success," McCartney told GQ sharing that the unlikely two continue to touch base. "I speak to him occasionally on the phone and mainly texting," the music legend shared.

Following their collaboration there was an outpouring of quips about the mighty Ye being responsible for discovering McCartney and masterminding his career. "I don't know who Paul McCartney is, but Kanye is going to give this man a career w/ this new song!!" a music fan posted on Twitter. Not everybody was in on the pun, however. "You're joking, right? Paul McCartney is arguably one of the most successful artists in history. Ever hear of the Beatles?" one reply read.

Meanwhile, McCartney has hundreds of thousands of reasons to be grateful for Rihanna and Ye. GQ reports that "FourFiveSeconds" was the biggest hit he'd enjoyed in 28 years. Shockingly, the song also had "ten times the Spotify plays of any other McCartney track and more than twice the plays of any Beatles song." Ka-Ching! Although, it's not like he needs the money. McCartney is worth even more than you think — to the tune of $1.2 billion. Take that, Ye!