Since the early 20th century, the Grand Hotel Majestic “già Baglioni” has been a second home for great stars passing through Bologna. As the only 5-star hotel in town, it has seen every kind of Italian and international star cross its threshold, from Filippo Tommaso Marinetti to Ava Gardner e Frank Sinatra, from Sean Connery to Woody Allen, from Maria Callas to Lady Diana. Not to mention a host of rock and pop singers, such as Bob Dylan, Miriam Makeba, Milva, Patty Smith, Anastacia, Sting, Elton John … and, naturally enough, Paul McCartney who, decades after the break-up of the Beatles, is still considered one for the “Four Boys from Liverpool”, the composer of timeless songs and the winner of 60 gold discs with 100 million singles sold.

It was with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr that Paul McCartney became a rock legend at a very early age. Born in Liverpool in 1942, in partnership with Lennon, he wrote planetary successes such as "Yesterday", "Let it Be", “Eleanor Rigby”, “Penny Lane” and “Hey Jude”, all of which topped the charts. After leaving the Beatles he went solo and achieved more success with numbers such as "Tug of War" (1982) and "Pipes of Peace" (1983). After a long pause, he came back in the new millennium with new albums featuring covers and original songs. One such, “Cut Me Some Slack”, won him a Grammy Award for "best rock song" in 2014.

Exactly ten years ago, on November 26 2011, Paul McCartney performed for the first time in Bologna on a stage on his On The Run Tour.

He landed in the city the day before the concert on a private flight from London and an hour later he was already at the Unipol Arena in nearby Casalecchio di Reno for the concert rehearsals. When he eventually arrived at the Majestic escorted by dozens of body guards, he was besieged by fans and photographers, a situation that was to continue throughout his stay. On entering the hall, he decided to treat those present to an improvised rendering of the old Fred Buscaglione hit “Buonasera signorina”. In the flesh McCartney was exactly what he seems, namely kind and thoughtful. Hence despite the massive security detail, indispensable for a star of his calibre, he found time to joke with all the fans who had flocked to the entrance of the 5-star Luxury hotel. The crowd comprised admirers from every age group, proof of the fact that good music is timeless. On the morning of the concert, McCartney even managed to elude the fans to go for a healthy and relaxing bike ride in the Giardini Margherita.

That evening for almost three hours 14,000 people joined in with him to sing all his greatest hits, right to the last song , taken from the Beatles Abbey Road album, which contained  a message for everyone: “And in the end, The love you take is equal to the love you make”. Curtain!