How VIP do I gotta get?Macca is barred from party
AS a former Beatle and one of the bestselling musicians of all time, Sir Paul McCartney must surely be in the running for the title of biggest celebrity on the planet.
In the trendy world of hip-hop, however, it seems he’s far from a star.
For the 73-year-old was turned away from a post- Grammy Awards party hosted by two upstart rappers in their 20s.
Sir Paul was reportedly overheard saying: ‘How VIP do we gotta get?’ as a bouncer refused him entry to the Argyle nightclub in Hollywood, where Tyga, 26, and Bow Wow, 28, were celebrating.
Sir Paul tried a second time but was rebuffed once more, when he was heard to say to his celebrity friends: ‘We need another hit guys, we need another hit’.
He looked unamused as he got into a car, where his wife Nancy Shevell was waiting, and drove away.
As well as his wife, Sir Paul was out on the town with singer-songwriter Beck and Taylor Hawkins, the drummer from rock band Foo Fighters. In a video on showbusiness website TMZ, Sir Paul walks up to the door of Argyle but is forced to step back. The crowd of onlookers were heard saying: ‘They won’t let you in?’ and ‘Can you believe this?’
After a second failed attempt, the group made their way to the Republic Records party at Hyde cocktail bar, where they were let in. Two years after their first Brit- ish hit in 1962, the Beatles cracked America with their tour that marked the start of the ‘British Invasion’ – and Sir Paul has rarely been out of the limelight on either side of the Atlantic ever since.
Over a career spanning more than half a century, he has won more than 20 Grammy awards, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has amassed an estimated fortune of £800million.
Bow Wow, who has never won a Grammy, was later interviewed and initially did not believe the story.
He told TMZ there was ‘no way’ that Sir Paul would have been turned away and that if he had known he was coming to the party, he would have let him in.
The rapper said: ‘Maybe it’s the fact that we’re younger than Paul. And it’s the fact that it’s a new generation and we really club when we go out. We go to Argyle. They know our faces.’ Tyga, whose songs include ‘Make it Nasty’, defended himself on Twitter, saying: ‘I don’t control the door. I had no knowledge SIR PAUL was there. I just performed and left.’ He added that Sir Paul was a ‘legend’, and said: ‘Why would I deny Paul McCartney.’
Last year rapper Kanye West’s fans praised him for doing a duet with Sir Paul because they thought he was helping out an unknown, up-and-coming artist.