Beyoncé's Cover Of "Blackbird," Which Was Originally A Beatles Song, Gets A Thoughtful Response From Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney couldn’t be happier that Beyoncé covered one of his most treasured hits.

The founding Beatles member posted a heartfelt tribute Thursday after Beyoncé included a dulcet cover of “Blackbird” in her latest album, “Cowboy Carter.” McCartney, who wrote the 1968 song in an era of high racial tensions, was glad its message is still being received.

“I am so happy with [Beyoncé’s] version of my song ‘Blackbird,’” the 81-year-old wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of him with the singer. “I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place.”

McCartney wrote the song in a decade that included the assassinations of several civil rights leaders, but was originally inspired by the Little Rock Nine, a group of Black students in Arkansas who were among the first to help desegregate schools in the U.S.

“When I saw the footage on the television in the early 60s of the black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can’t believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now,” McCartney wrote Thursday.

The beloved Briton added that Beyoncé thanked him for “letting her” cover the song during a FaceTime chat in which he claimed “the pleasure was all mine.” McCartney has thus joined several other notable names in praising Beyoncé over the past week for her album.

The Grammy queen hasn’t been welcomed by everyone in the country music community, however. Beyoncé recalled pushback when she “first entered this genre” in a recent Instagram post, which many believe was a reference to her performance with the Dixie Chicks.

The singers performed “Daddy Lessons” in 2016 from Beyoncé’s latest album at the time, “Lemonade,” only for the Country Music Awards to remove a promotional social media post about it after vocal backlash erupted on multiple platforms.

The rest is clearly history as Beyoncé decided to fully lean into that criticism by dropping a full-fledged country album that has already broken records — and made her the first Black female artist to top Billboard’s Hot 100 Country Songs chart with “Texas Hold ’Em.”

The racist hurdles Beyoncé faced echo why McCartney wrote his song in the first place, as confirmed by his final line: “Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud.”This post originally appeared on HuffPost.