Paul McCartney is roasting Bruce Springsteen.
On Thursday, May 23, McCartney, 81, presented Springsteen, 74, with a prestigious songwriting honor at the 2024 Ivor Novello Awards in London — and didn’t hold back on poking fun at his longtime friend.
“He’s known as being the American working man, but he admits he’s never worked a day in his life. It’s true,” the Beatles star said in a video shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), while introducing his fellow rocker at the Grosvenor House Hotel.
Springsteen became the first-ever international songwriter to be inducted into the Academy’s Fellowship in its 80-year history, per the Ivors Academy website, with the award being “the highest honor the organization bestows.” Previous winners include Adele, Sting, Amy Winehouse, John Lennon, Kate Bush and McCartney.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1514x581:1516x583):format(webp)/bruce-springsteen-paul-mccartney-los-angeles-grammys-021212_3244-f1469542a9b54ac89119f08b730e6e1e.jpg)
McCartney called Springsteen a “lovely, lovely boy,” after joking that he “couldn’t think of a more fitting” international musician to receive the honor, per the BBC.
“Except maybe Bob Dylan… Or Paul Simon, or Billy Joel, or Beyoncé, or Taylor Swift. The list goes on,” McCartney joked.
He went on to present the award to Springsteen while the crowd shouted “Bruce.”
“I’m going to sound really weird up here because I sang in the rain all night last night,” Springsteen said on stage, referencing his show in Sunderland, England on Wednesday, May 22 amid heavy rainfall in the U.K.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(653x193:655x195):format(webp)/bruce-springsteen-053123-7ea2eba3d9c040b1a8bec662d3ea5980.jpg)
Insisting he never thought about canceling the show, Springsteen went on, “We came out last night, and I was like, ‘What is this weather? Driving rain, wind roaring,” per the BBC.
“But standing in front of me, in the rain, I realized: These are my people,” the “Dancing in the Dark” hitmaker added.
Springsteen also recalled first heading to London back in 1975, admitting he now considers the U.K. to be a second home. However, he wasn’t entirely sold at first.
“The airplane food was not so great, and my first thought when we landed at Heathrow was, ‘Where’s all the cheeseburgers?’ ” the musician joked, per the outlet.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1434x461:1436x463):format(webp)/bruce-springsteen-paul-mccartney-glastonbury-062522_3245-bd0718db88f9422ea6ad7216df0a66ff.jpg)
“The cheeseburgers had either been hidden or replaced by something called fish and chips. It was a little disconcerting,” he added.
“Then our next stop was the Hammersmith Odeon, where I was greeted by a huge sign announcing: ‘London is finally ready for Bruce Springsteen,’ ” Springsteen continued. “And all I thought was, ‘If London isn’t ready for a cheeseburger, they may not be ready for me!’ “
Springsteen and McCartney have performed together multiple times over the years, with them taking to the stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 2022 during McCartney’s headline set.
Springsteen performed “I Wanna Be Your Man” and his own “Glory Days” with the former Beatle at the festival, which also saw Dave Grohl make an appearance.
