Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Share Their First-Ever Duet, “Home To Us”

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have quietly done something fans have waited decades to hear: they recorded their first proper duet. “Home To Us” is the new single tucked into McCartney’s upcoming album The Boys Of Dungeon Lane, and it arrives as a rare, conversational counterpoint between two of the last living pillars of the Beatles.

The Boys Of Dungeon Lane lands 5/29 via MPL/Capitol, and McCartney has already teased the record with lead single “Days We Left Behind.” But “Home To Us” feels like the emotional centerpiece for longtime listeners — not because it rewrites history, but because it stitches together the real-world origins the song addresses.

On the record McCartney handles most of the instruments himself, but “Home To Us” is singled out as the only track to feature a guest drummer. McCartney built a drum track with Starr in mind, then invited him to record his parts with producer Andrew Watt. The song also carries backing vocals from Chrissie Hynde and Sharleen Spiteri (the former was recently not shy about pointing out the vapidity of celebrity culture and its attendant media coverage following the Monday’s Met Gala).

“In writing the song I’m talking about where we came from. In common with a lot of people, you come from nothing and you build yourself up. Ringo was from the Dingle, and that was well hard. He said he used to get mugged coming home, because he worked. Even though it was crazy, it was home to us. I made the song around that idea and sent it to Ringo. He sent me back a version where he just added some lines to the chorus, so I thought, maybe he doesn’t like it. I rang him and he said he thought I only wanted him to sing one or two lines, and I said I’d love to hear him sing the whole thing. So we took my first line, Ringo’s second line, and then we had a duet. We’d never done that before.”

That closeness to place — McCartney’s Liverpool coming-of-age — is the album’s throughline, and in this instance the duet works because it sounds like two old friends trading lines rather than executing a staged event. The decision to split verses and hand off phrases between them makes the track feel conversational, a small domestic scene unfolded in song: you can almost hear the comfort of two voices that have navigated the same map of memory.

Fans will register the novelty of a genuine McCartney-Starr vocal pairing, yes, but they’ll also notice the practicalities: McCartney composing around Ringo’s feel, an invitation to record with Watt, Hynde and Spiteri adding color — all of it grounded in the modest, lived-in origin story McCartney relays.

Listen below.

The Boys Of Dungeon Lane is out 5/29 via MPL/Capitol. Pre-order it here.