Sir Paul McCartney was brutally honest about the Rolling Stones in a new interview. Photo / Getty Images
Sir Paul McCartney has doubled down on the rivalry between The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
McCartney spoke to the New Yorker and made it clear what he thinks of the rock band.
"I'm not sure I should say it, but they're a blues cover band, that's sort of what the Stones are," he shared.
"I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs."
And it's not the first time McCartney has dished out the "blues" line either. In an interview with Howard Stern in April 2020, the musician made it clear he thought the Beatles were better than the Stones.
"They are rooted in the blues. When they are writing stuff, it has to do with the blues," he told Stern.
"We had a little more influences … There's a lot of differences and I love the Stones, but I'm with you. The Beatles were better."
The exchange prompted a response from Mick Jagger, who spoke to New Zealand-born music broadcaster Zane Lowe on his Apple Music show.
Instead of firing back, Jagger's response leaned a little nicer in tone.
He called McCartney a "sweetheart".
The rocker added "there's obviously no competition" between the two groups.
"The big difference, though, is, and sort of slightly seriously, is that the Rolling Stones is a big concert band in other decades and other areas when the Beatles never even did an arena tour, or Madison Square Garden with a decent sound system," he explained.
"They broke up before that business started, the touring business for real," he added.
"We started stadium gigs in the 1970s and are still doing them now."
The band is still touring, and sadly the group are grieving their longtime drummer Charlie Watts who died in August.
At 59, the Kiwi actor hopes to help shift the discourse around women's health.