On February 9th, Paul appeared on the 51st annual Grammy awards in L.A. and sang “I Saw Her Standing There” with friend and Foo Fighter Dave Grohl. He lost to John Mayer in Best Male Pop Vocal Performance of “That Was Me.”
On April 4th, at Radio City Music Hall he performed at the benefit CHANGE BEGINS WITHIN concert.
He did 10 songs with his band and then was joined on the encores by everyone, including Ringo, Mike Love, Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow etc….
He headlined Coachella Festival on April 17th, thrilling all with a 36 song set.
He and the band headlined the opening of the new Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel/Casino on April 19th with a 34 song set.
He jumped onstage and joined Neil Young at Hyde Park on June 27th’s Hard Rock Calling 2009 Festival.
He did a short 9 show summer stadium tour of the US (plus July 9th as a warmup show in Canada) called Summer Live ’09. I had the honor of seeing him on July 21st at one of his three shows at the new Citi Field. I attended with my sister and brother in law.
This time he had an opening act, The Killers. He had appeared on the marquee of The Ed Sullivan Theater on the July 15th Late Show with David Letterman to promote the gigs and tour. The tour ran from July 17th thru August 19th.
ECCE COR MEUM had two 2009 performances in Australia.
On Monday 26th October Paul co-chaired Chance and Chemistry: A Centennial Celebration of Frank Loesser, a concert benefiting the Actors Fund in Broadway New York City.
Frank Loesser has been called the most versatile of all Broadway composers, having supplied both music and lyrics for such varied works as Guys & Dolls, Where’s Charley?, The Most Happy Fella and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.
Paul hit the stage at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre to perform “On A Slow Boat To China”, he then returned to the stage at the end of the night to take a bow with all the show’s performers, including Brian Stokes Mitchell, Michelle Lee, John Stamos and Art Garfunkel.
Paul performed at Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall on November 12th.
Every year, BBC Children in Need creates magic moments that raise huge amounts of money for disadvantaged children, and this year the UK’s finest musicians helped raise more than ever with a spectacular show at the Royal Albert Hall.
For Children in Need 2009, Gary Barlow and Take That are adding to the magic by inviting Paul and an all-star line-up of rock and pop’s finest, who in total have amassed over 50 UK number one hits, to take part in Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall.
Paul McCartney sat at the piano and kicked off a stunning ‘Hey Jude’ finale to the show with the mega guest list of star performers belting out the ‘na na na na na-na-na-na’ chorus.
From December 2nd thru December 22nd Paul and his band played 8 concerts in 5 countries. He called this short tour GOOD EVENING EUROPE!
“This is my chance to bring our current show home to where it all began. Starting in Hamburg, ending in London and rocking everywhere in between. I’m very much looking forward to ending the year on a high.”
As a birthday present to me he and his band performed on the finale of X factor 2009, broadcast on the BBC…. They did “Drive My Car” and “Live And Let Die.”
Recording wise, he helped out Matt Berry’s WITCHAZEL album, supplying backing vocals on “Rain Came Down.”
He also helped friend Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens) on the album, “Roadsinger.”
“I’m in Love Again” came out on Klaus Voorman’s A SIDEMAN’S JOURNEY album on July 7th.
The AMOEBA’S SECRET live show came out as an 4 track EP download on MPL/Hear Music in 2009.
Finally, all of The Beatles album were remastered, mono (except for ABBEY ROAD) and stereo versions of the originals.
Oh, and he was also named Songwriter of the Year by ASCAP, he launched the “Meat Free Monday” campaign, he attended The Beatles Rock Band launch, and he had a DVD of the Citi Field shows “Good Evening New York City” DVD come out….. all in 2009.
Next…..2010. Changes in style and a new album.
A Life Through The Eyes Of A Man 