More than half a century after changing music forever with The Beatles, the two surviving members of the band are still finding new creative ground together.
Paul McCartney has unveiled ‘Home to Us’, a heartfelt new collaboration with Ringo Starr that marks the first time the pair have traded full lead vocal lines throughout an entire song. The track was previewed during an intimate fan playback event at Abbey Road Studios on May 5 and will officially arrive as a single on May 8.
The song appears on McCartney’s upcoming album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, due out May 29 via MPL/Capitol.
A Song Rooted in Liverpool Memories
According to McCartney, ‘Home to Us’ began during a studio session with producer Andrew Watt, when Starr came in to record drums for a track McCartney had specifically designed around their shared upbringing in working-class Liverpool.
Speaking at the Abbey Road playback event, McCartney explained that the song reflects the difficult neighborhoods both men came from before fame transformed their lives.
Starr grew up in the Dingle district of Liverpool, an area McCartney described as “well hard,” recalling stories of Starr being mugged while coming home from work. Despite the hardships, the emotional core of the song centers on the idea that those difficult places still felt like home.
What started as a simple collaboration quickly evolved into something more significant.
McCartney originally expected Starr to sing only a few supporting lines. Instead, after a phone conversation cleared up the misunderstanding, the two decided to alternate lead vocals throughout the track.
That structure became the emotional hook of the song — two lifelong friends reflecting together on where they came from.
Chrissie Hynde and Sharleen Spiteri Add Depth
Once the duet was complete, McCartney brought in additional voices to expand the song’s atmosphere.
Chrissie Hynde and Sharleen Spiteri contribute backing vocals, giving the track a distinctly British rock character that complements its themes of class, identity, and memory.
Spiteri’s band Texas has long been associated with emotionally grounded British pop-rock, while Hynde brings decades of credibility and grit from her work with The Pretenders.
The guest list feels intentional rather than nostalgic — a gathering of artists shaped by the same post-war British culture the song explores.
Not the First Collaboration — But a Different One
McCartney described ‘Home to Us’ as the first time he and Starr had ever exchanged full lead vocal lines on a song together.
Technically, the two have collaborated vocally before. They previously sang together on Walk With You from Starr’s 2010 album Y Not, and Starr also contributed backing vocals to Beautiful Night from McCartney’s 1997 album Flaming Pie.
But ‘Home to Us’ appears to be the first collaboration built entirely around a true vocal trade-off format, with each artist carrying alternating lines as equal narrators.
For Beatles fans, that distinction matters.
A Deeply Personal McCartney Album
McCartney has described The Boys of Dungeon Lane as his “most introspective album to date,” focusing heavily on his Liverpool childhood and the years before Beatlemania.
The album also revisits the self-contained recording style McCartney famously used on his 1970 solo debut McCartney. Aside from Starr’s appearance on ‘Home to Us’, McCartney reportedly plays most of the instruments himself across the record.
That creative decision feels especially meaningful now. Rather than chasing spectacle, McCartney appears to be turning inward — reflecting on memory, identity, and survival with the perspective of someone who has lived through nearly every chapter of modern rock history.
The timing is notable too. Public interest in Beatles history has surged again following the release of Now and Then in 2023, which reopened conversations about what constitutes a “new” Beatles recording in the modern era.
Against that backdrop, The Boys of Dungeon Lane feels less like a nostalgia project and more like a personal reckoning.
Why ‘Home to Us’ Matters
At a time when many legacy artists are treated as museum pieces, McCartney and Starr continue to create music that feels emotionally alive and culturally relevant.
McCartney, nearing 84, and Starr, now 85, are still collaborating not out of obligation, but because they clearly still have stories to tell together.
That is what gives ‘Home to Us’ its emotional weight.
It is not simply a reunion between two surviving Beatles. It is two men revisiting the streets, struggles, and memories that shaped them long before the world knew their names.
And for listeners who grew up with their music, hearing those voices answer each other one more time carries a significance that goes far beyond nostalgia.
Release Information
- ‘Home to Us’ releases as a single on May 8.
- The Boys of Dungeon Lane arrives May 29 via MPL/Capitol.
- The album’s first single was Days We Left Behind.