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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

James Corden and Paul McCartney do carpool karaoke, and Corden weeps over story behind ‘Let It Be’

In this image released by CBS, Paul McCartney, right, joins host James Corden as they take a selfie on Penny Lane during the “Carpool Karaoke” segment on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” (Craig Sugden / Associated Press)
By Ariel Scotti Tribune News Service

Things got emotional on a special edition of James Corden’s carpool karaoke when he and Paul McCartney drove around Liverpool together, exploring the musician’s hometown.

The pair toured the U.K. city and a number of the Beatle’s old haunts, like Penny Lane, his family’s home, the church where McCartney was a choir boy, and a barber shop and a pub he used to play.

But the British pop star brought the “Late Late Show” host to tears. While discussing the story behind one of his band’s more iconic songs, “Let It Be,” McCartney opened up about the “most beautiful story” Corden ever heard.

The lyricist said that he “had a dream in the ‘60s where my mum, who died, came to me in the dream and was reassuring me, saying, ‘It’s going to be OK. Just let it be.’”

“She gave me the positive word,” he said. “So I woke up and I went: ‘What was that? What’d she say? Let it be? I’ve never heard that. That’s kind of good.’”

Corden then shared that his first experience with the hit song was as a young boy when his grandfather, a musician, sat him down to hear the “best song you’ve ever heard.”

“And I remember them playing me that,” Corden said of the song. “If my grandad was here right now, he’d get an absolute kick out of this.”

“He is,” McCartney said.

The episode ended on a much lighter note when Corden had McCartney surprise a local pub with an impromptu miniconcert featuring “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Love Me Do,” “Back In The U.S.S.R.,” and “Hey Jude.”