62 Years After Last Performing This No. 1 Smash, Paul McCartney Revived It At Taylor Swift's Wedding

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding felt like a royal event. Considering the guests in attendance and the Madison Square Garden setting, it might be just that. The cherry on the cake was Paul McCartney pulling out the Beatle classic "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to serenade the newlyweds.

According to People, at the July 3, 2026 reception in New York City, McCartney played the song that soared to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. What's so special about this tune compared to the other iconic Beatles hits? Well, it was the band's first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., marking the next chapter in Beatlemania as it ran wild across the globe. The track also saw the group nominated for record of the year at the 1965 Grammy Awards (ultimately, they lost out to Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz's "The Girl From Ipanema").

In a remarkable twist of fate, the Beatles last played "I Want to Play Your Hand" in NYC on September 20, 1964. So, it's only fitting that McCartney would revisit the legendary track in the same city 62 years later for such a grand occasion.

There are many European bands who have been successful in their own continent but never managed to conquer the land across the pond. For the Beatles, the success of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" — especially in America — only pushed them up another level on the chart of all-time greats. It's the single that alerted the U.S. mainstream audience to this rock 'n' roll juggernaut from Liverpool, England. In the end, the Beatles achieved an unbelievable milestone in 1964 at the height of their fame by having six No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Luckily, we didn't know what America was — we just knew our dream of it — or we probably would have been too intimidated," Paul McCartney told Rolling Stone. The songwriting team of McCartney and John Lennon penned a track that made such a pop culture splash, resulting in the Beatles appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show." The appearance resulted in over 70 million viewers tuning into the program. To put that into context, the "Friends" finale, "The Last One," was watched by 52.5 million people, so the Beatles were bigger than Chandler, Ross, Joey, Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe. It's only fitting that the return of this mega-hit would come at the wedding of the century between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.