James McCartney announces first new single since 2016 with ‘Beautiful’

James McCartney, the son of The Beatles‘ Paul, has announced his return to music in the form of the new single ‘Beautiful’.

The news was confirmed on James’ official social media pages earlier today (February 12), where it was noted that the new single will be released on February 23. You can pre-save it here. It marks his first new release in eight years. 

Beautiful. The new single, out February 23rd.

Pre-save here: https://t.co/R8UZlpjUxX pic.twitter.com/ch0EfkeVRq

— James McCartney (@JamesMcCartney_) February 12, 2024

James grew up contributing to recording sessions for his father’s albums ‘Flaming Pie’ in 1997 and ‘Driving Rain’ in 2001, as well as his mother Linda McCartney’s 1998 release ‘Wide Prairie’. 

The multi-instrumentalist started to release his own solo material in 2010 with a series of EPs, eventually putting out his debut studio album ‘Me’ in 2013. This was followed up by 2016’s ‘The Blackberry Train’, but James has not been active with new releases since then. 

In addition to his own career, James has become something of an internet sensation over the years for a number of high-profile clips. Ahead of one performance on ITV’s Lorraine, James was played a clip of his father sending him a cringe-inducing positive message: “Hey Jamesy, rock it man, I know you will,” the Beatle says, before a half-hearted air guitar riff and a chef’s kiss. 

Another viral moment arrived for James when he appeared in an NME 66 Second Interview in 2012, and the majority of his answers to a range of music-related questions involved references to his father’s band. 

Back in November, following the release of the new Beatles song ‘Now and Then’, rumours began to swirl about the possibility of a band being formed out of the original Beatles’ children. Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey, a celebrated drummer in his own right, moved to shut down the rumours, which were said to potentially also involve Sean Lennon and Dhani Harrison. 

James’ father, meanwhile, was captured catching up with Taylor Swift in the crowd at the Super Bowl last night (February 11) in Las Vegas.