Paul McCartney performs Get Back with Foo Fighters after inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Foo Fighters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the 2021 ceremony on Saturday (October 31) by Paul McCartney, with the Beatles icon joining Dave Grohl and co for a celebratory cover of the Fab Four’s 1969 track, Get Back.

In his induction speech – which preceded a brisk three-piece Foo Fighters set and the show-stopping collaborative performance – McCartney drew parallels between himself and Grohl, saying, “Me, a teenage kid in Liverpool, just an ordinary kid in school like everybody else, one day I heard some music and I fell into rock ‘n’ roll.

“It just happened one day, and suddenly the world changed. About the same time in his life, Dave did the same kind of thing,” he continued. “The same thing happens, he falls through the same hole.

“When that happened, and I fell into rock ‘n’ roll, I joined a group. My group was the Beatles. Dave did a similar kind of thing. He joined a group: Nirvana.”

And the parallels between the two didn’t stop there, with Macca going on to mention the “great times” both had with their respective groups before “tragedy happened”. “My group broke up,” he pressed on. “Same happened with Dave.

“So the question is, what do you do now? We both were presented with that question. In my case, I said, ‘Well, I’ll make an album where I play all the instruments myself.’ Dave’s group broke up, what’s he do? He makes an album where he plays all the instruments himself. Do you think this guy’s stalking me?

“I was just saying to them in the dressing room, ‘Guys, this is it. You’re here, in Cleveland. And tonight you’re going to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.”

After Macca’s rousing speech, the Foo Fighters took to the stage for three whistle-stop renditions of Best of You, My Hero and Everlong – supercharging each track with a buoyed sense of urgency and tempo – before briefly holstering their instruments for a few remarks of acceptance.

McCartney would then take to the stage for one final performance of Get Back in the company of Foo Fighters, sharing vocal duties – and occasionally the microphone – with Grohl, who in turn spearheaded the souped-up, uptempo rendition that boasted additional overdriven lead lines.

It was the grand finale of what proved to be an eventful evening, which also saw the induction of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2021, comprising Carole King, Jay-Z, Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner and the Go-Go’s.

Elsewhere, Randy Rhoads was posthumously honored with an induction, with tributes for the late Ozzy Osbourne legend coming from Kirk Hammett, Zakk Wylde and Tom Morello.