Flaming Lips Frontman Recalls ‘Amazing’ Joint With Paul McCartney

Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne once had a surreal experience smoking weed with Paul McCartney.

He confessed to having cringy interactions with celebrities “all the time” during a recent conversation with The Guardian. As evidence, he offered up an anecdote involving the famous Beatles star.

“The first time we met Paul McCartney – he wasn’t there to meet us, he was at one of these festivals, and he came in through the backstage,” Coyne said. “No one really knew he was there. He came in with his wife, Linda, and I just followed him up on stage. He thought I was part of his entourage – apparently he didn’t mind that I was there.”

“But I stood right behind him as he watched Neil Young play. I’d seen Neil Young play – I was there to look at Paul McCartney more than anything else,” Coyne continued, estimating that the story took place sometime around 1993. As the Flaming Lips singer stared at one of his idols, he couldn’t help but notice something.

READ MORE: Top 30 Weed Songs

“I remember his ear was very crusty,” Coyne noted. “I mean, you’re just looking at Paul McCartney as a human, you know? You don’t get to do that very often. And I remember looking at his ear and – look, sometimes when you’re traveling around a lot, your ears are kind of crusty.”

Paul McCartney Handed Wayne Coyne a ‘Big Joint’

Coyne’s long gaze at McCartney was broken up by a friendly offer.

“I don’t smoke pot, and he had a big joint, and he handed it to me as if I was part of his entourage,” the singer recalled. “I took a big puff of it, which I shouldn’t have done, but I thought, ‘Well, how often do you get to smoke a joint with Paul McCartney?’” Coyne concluded. “It was amazing.”