Paul McCartney and David Gilmour have been friends since the 1970s. Paul loved Pink Floyd. The psychedelic rock band released Dark Side of the Moon in 1973, the same year Paul and Wings released Band on the Run. However, they didn’t get to work together until the late 1970s. Gilmour appeared on a couple of Paul and Wings’ last songs on their final album, Back to the Egg. The album’s first track, “Reception,” has a “Pink Floyd-esque” intro. Gilmour contributed electric guitar on “Rockestra Theme” and “So Glad To See You Here.” Later, Pauled asked Gilmour for more great guitar work for his Give My Regards to Broad Street track “No More Lonely Nights.” In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he asked Gilmour to play on the tune because he thought the guitarist would be a great fit. Paul had seen Gilmour around after the guitarist finished his solo album, About Face. Gilmour played the tune’s guitar solo. “It sounded like his kind of thing… Dave is a genius of sorts, so I was pulling out all the stops,” Paul wrote. Paul loved what Gilmour did, especially on the album version, which is longer. He went “to town” on it because he had more space to play. Later, Gilmour lent his talents again to Paul’s “We Got Married” from the former Beatle’s Flowers in the Dirt record.

Paul McCartney and David Gilmour have shared a quiet but enduring musical friendship that stretches back to the 1970s. Though Paul had long admired Pink Floyd’s groundbreaking work—especially their 1973 masterpiece *The Dark Side of the Moon*, released the same year Paul and Wings unveiled *Band on the Run*—the two didn’t collaborate until later in the decade.

Their first musical partnership came on *Back to the Egg* (1979), the final studio album by Wings. Gilmour lent his electric guitar talents to “Rockestra Theme” and “So Glad To See You Here,” two tracks featuring an all-star lineup of rock legends. The album’s opener, “Reception,” even carried a distinct “Pink Floyd-esque” intro, reflecting the influence of the progressive, psychedelic sound McCartney so admired in Gilmour’s work.

A few years later, McCartney tapped Gilmour again—this time for the 1984 film project *Give My Regards to Broad Street*. Gilmour played the soaring guitar solo on “No More Lonely Nights,” a standout ballad from the soundtrack. In his book *The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present*, Paul revealed that he specifically sought out Gilmour because he believed the guitarist’s expressive, melodic playing would be a perfect fit. “It sounded like his kind of thing… Dave is a genius of sorts, so I was pulling out all the stops,” Paul wrote. Gilmour delivered, especially on the extended album version of the track, where he had more room to “go to town.”

Their creative chemistry didn’t end there. Gilmour later returned to play on “We Got Married,” a track from McCartney’s 1989 album *Flowers in the Dirt*. With each collaboration, Gilmour’s signature guitar tone added emotional depth to McCartney’s songwriting, blending two of rock’s most iconic voices into a quietly powerful partnership that fans still celebrate

today.