By A group of Beatles fans received an unexpected addition to their Liverpool sightseeing tour when Paul McCartney pulled alongside their bus—and brought Ringo Starr along for the encounter by video call.
The fans were traveling aboard the Magical Mystery Tour bus, which visits landmarks connected to the childhoods and careers of the four Beatles, when McCartney appeared in a nearby car, explained the Good News Network.
Tour guide Tony Curley, 71, said the brief encounter quickly became an unforgettable moment for everyone aboard.
“We were driving along Hope Street towards the Cathedral, and the driver Neil noticed someone was flagging us down.
“We pulled up at the red light and there he was waving (from) the back of a car.
“We pulled our window down and… he said to us, ‘You alright, lads?’.
“Of course we were! As a Beatles fan seeing Paul for the first time was amazing.
“I got on the microphone and said to all the fans on the bus: ‘Get your phones out; there is Paul McCartney’.
“He then waved at everyone on the bus and pulled out Ringo on his phone. It probably only lasted a minute, but (it) was a magical coincidence.”
Starr waved to the delighted passengers from McCartney’s phone, giving the tourists a surprise appearance by both surviving Beatles during a tour devoted to the band’s history.
Curley, who has led Beatles bus tours for the past decade, told SWNS news agency that McCartney had been spotted by one of the company’s tours only once before. That sighting came in 2018, when McCartney was outside his childhood home filming a segment with James Corden for The Late Late Show.
Curley said McCartney appeared to enjoy the opportunity to greet fans who had traveled to Liverpool to celebrate the band’s music and legacy.
“He must have been there in the car—on the phone to Ringo—and seen us coming along, and decided to say hello… I’m sure he would have had a giggle over it.”
“I also think he must get a huge sense of pride, when seeing the bus. People travel from all over the world to come on our tours.
“It was just perfect timing that we had to be there at that exact moment.”
The unexpected meeting was made possible by a string of fortunate circumstances. Curley said he had agreed to lead Saturday’s tour only because another guide had called in sick.
The passengers, he said, were “over the moon” after encountering one of the musicians whose story had brought them to Liverpool.
For Curley and the fans aboard the bus, the fleeting stop at a traffic light became the highlight of the tour — and likely a Beatles memory they will be telling for years.
“It will be a couple of weeks until we come back down to earth.”
