Beatles McCartney ... Not Famous Enough?


17 February, 2016

This is What's Trending Today....

The Grammy Awards honor the best music each year in America. This year's awards were given Monday night in Los Angeles.

Paul McCartney was one of the Beatles, an early rock ‘n' roll group that some say is the greatest of all time.

From left, Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West perform From left, Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West perform "FourFiveSeconds" at the 57th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, Feb. 8, 2015.

McCartney has 18 Grammy awards. Some of his songs with the Beatles are, "Let it Be," "Hey Jude," and "Can't Buy Me Love."

He even had the honor of recording the sound effects for Valentine's Day-themed "LoveMojis" for Skype.

McCartney is the definition of a "living legend."

On the night of this year's Grammy's, he wanted to party with everyone else. And for good reason. He usually gets into any music event he wants.

But on Monday night, he was turned away from an event for younger celebrities.

The rapper Tyga was performing at a club called the Argyle. The club was full, the doorman said. The celebrity news website TMZ captured the conversation on video.

McCartney was with famous musicians Beck, and Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters.

Listen to the conversation.

"How VIP do we gotta get?" McCartney asks.

In English, when someone says VIP, it stands for "very important person." A VIP could be the president or a famous singer like McCartney.

Then McCartney says "We need another hit guys, we need another hit. Work on it."

Beck says "Next year, next year."

And they walk away, laughing.

A "hit" is another term for a successful song or record.

For example, the music magazine Billboard says the first Beatles "hit" was "I Want to Hold Your Hand," in 1964. The Beatles had 20 No. 1 songs.

The video has many people talking. And even Tyga says he would not have prevented McCartney from entering if he had known the singer was outside.

But after all this, McCartney and his friends turned up at another party hosted Republic Records, where they were welcomed by everyone.

And that's What's Trending Today.

I'm Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

If you had a club, would you let Paul McCartney in? Or would you turn him away? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on 51VOA.COM.

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Words in This Story

celebrity – n. a person who is famous

living legend – n. a famous or important person known for doing something extremely well

hit – adj. a big success, or a strike or blow

VIP – adj. a person who is important or famous

party – v. to spend enjoyable time eating, drinking, dancing, etc., with a group of people