Bruce Springsteen roasted by Sir Paul McCartney joking he’s ‘never worked a day in his life’-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro

Sir Paul McCartney (jokingly) didn’t mince words on Thursday night (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Bruce Springsteen caught a few unexpected strays after Sir Paul McCartney playfully accused the legendary singer of ‘never working a day in his life’.

The American songwriter, 74, was in London on Thursday to collect an Ivor Novello fellowship award from Sir Paul, 81, who presented him with it at the lavish ceremony.

The Born to Run songwriter has become the first international act to win the fellowship award, meaning he joins ranks with the likes of Sir Paul, Sir Elton John, Joan Armatrading, and Kate Bush.

But the former Beatles songwriter and bassist made sure to get a few jokes in at Springsteen’s expense first – and ‘The Boss’ took them all in good faith.

After first saying that he couldn’t think of a more deserving recipient of the Ivors’ most prestigious award, he then listed several artists who, in fact, probably deserve the award themselves.

‘I can’t think of a more fitting [musician], except maybe Bob Dylan, or Paul Simon, or Billy Joel, or Beyoncé, or Taylor Swift… The list goes on,’ he laughed.

Don’t worry – Sir Paul’s a lover, not a fighter (Picture: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Sir Paul then began to fully roast the Darkness on the Edge of Town singer, saying: ‘He’s known as the American working man but he admits he’s never worked a day in his life.’

He then said that if Springsteen were to have joined The Beatles, he would have ‘definitely been in the top five’ most talented members the group ever had.

Of course, none of Sir Paul’s comments affected the close friendship the two have, and The Boss gave his contemporary a big hug as he accepted the award.

Of course, Sir Paul and The Boss are great friends (Picture: Harry Durrant/Getty Images)

The pair have had a long friendship (Picture: KMazur/WireImage)

Other winners of the fellowship award include James Bond composer John Barry, all three of the Bee Gees, Sting, Annie Lennox, and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

After the show, Elbow frontman Guy Garvey spoke to the BBC about watching one of his musical heroes collecting the award, which ‘excellence and impact in the art and craft of music creation’.

He said: ‘He’s carrying the torch for folk music in the world of rock. He’s a force to be reckoned with. There’s only one Boss.’

Of course, when Sir Paul isn’t roasting Springsteen on stage at star-studded events, the pair are sometimes seen performing together.

During his Glastonbury set in June 2022, the two performed Glory Days, from Springsteen’s 1985 album Born in the USA, and I Wanna Be Your Man, from The Beatles’ second album in 1963.

Soon after that performance, however, Sir Paul told the Conan O’Brien Podcast that he blames The Boss for music concerts now being three and four hours long.

‘Back then [in the 1960s], it was a lot of people on the bill because nobody did long. Now people will do three or four hours. I blame Bruce Springsteen and I’ve told him so,’ he said.

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