This summer Sir Paul McCartney was given the distinct honor of performing at the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics. While he ignited the stage in the way only a Beatle can, the performance was far from flawless. McCartney reportedly missed his cue to begin singing "Hey Jude."
"I f---ed up," McCartney said in an interview with Britain's NME. "I was supposed to wait for a cue. But I forgot. Why? Well, there's this bloody great bell that we didn't know about. It was deafening... We prerecorded a playback in case all hell broke loose... We were live, everyone was there, the world was ready and this bloody great bell goes off.
"I forget I've gotta wait for it, so I go, 'Hey Jude,' and someone presses the playback," McCartney continued. "So there's me on the backing track, and actual me; two of us singing. The drummer wouldn't look at me because he was in hysterics and I was thinking, 'What have I done?' There was no stopping, it was the Olympics."
The bell McCartney is referencing is a 23-ton bell that is rung to signify the beginning of the games.
McCartney will be making a bell-less performance at Wednesday's 12-12-12 concert to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy.