Rock legend Paul McCartney expressed his condolences and shared a memory after learning of the death of Dolly Parton on Tuesday. The former Beatles singer and bassist posted a photograph from 1974, when he met Parton during a recording trip to Nashville.
McCartney, 84, shared a pair of black-and-white photographs on his Instagram account. They were taken by Jack Korn, a photographer for The Tennessean, according to People.
The photographs depict McCartney, his first wife (the late Linda McCartney) and daughters Heather and Mary greeting Parton and Porter Wagoner at the Grand Ole Opry.
Parton covered one of McCartney’s last songs with The Beatles, “Let It Be.” McCartney and fellow Beatle Ringo Starr accompanied Parton on the song several years ago.
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“The magnificent star Dolly Parton has died and it is so sad,” McCartney posted on Instagram. “She was such a wonderful woman.
“She was so bubbly and full of life it is difficult to take in the news that she has passed. Her songwriting, her singing and her philanthropy were unrivaled in the world of country music and it is hard to imagine living in a world without Dolly.”
McCartney added that Parton was “a very clever businesswoman” who understood her music’s value and who also realized the effect she had on her fans.
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“There was no greater honour for me than to have her sing my song ‘Let It Be’ and, even though I only made a small contribution to it, I am so honoured that she did it,” McCartney wrote. “I am so proud to have known her and admire her unique talents.”
McCartney and Wings came to Nashville during the summer of 1974 to record several tracks, including “Junior’s Farm” and “Sally G” as Wings. He also recorded a song written by his father, “Walking in the Park with Eloise,” under the pseudonym The Country Hams.
The song “Junior’s Farm” paid tribute to Claude “Curly” Putnam Jr., a Nashville songwriter who was also nicknamed “Junior.” Putnam, who wrote the 1964 hit, “The Green, Green Grass of Home,” owned a farm in the Nashville area.
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