Sir Paul McCartney Confirms He'll Be Topping The Bill At The London Olympics Opening Ceremony

McCartney Reveals His Olympic Duties

Sir Paul McCartney, fresh from topping the bill at last night's Diamond Jubilee Concert extravaganza, has confirmed one of London's worst-kept secrets - that he will be staying on duty for the Olympics opening ceremony.

"I'm booked," he confirmed to BBC Radio 5 Live.

He revealed that he would be "closing the ceremony" on 27 July, which presumably means he's topping the bill there too.

Meanwhile, a concert will also take place, to be headlined by eighties rockers Duran Duran. This must come as a relief to frontman Simon Le Bon, who has voiced his discontent over being left out of last night's Jubilee fest (read MORE on that here).

A total cast of 15,000 will take part in the Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies, which will be watched by an estimated worldwide audience of four billion people.

It's a role the Beatles legend is used to. He closed the night at Live Aid in 1985, and repeated the honours at Live Eight in 2005, so Olympics creative director Danny Boyle has understandably put the high-profile gig in Sir Paul's safe hands.

McCartney goes on tour so often, too, that he stays tuned like his instruments, unlike, say, Pink Floyd, who had to be wheeled out of sulky retirement for Live Eight. And he doesn't need a massive band to jet in from overseas, house, feed, water and generally keep in hand, as he lives just down the road in London.

Judging by last night's show-stopping finale, just Macca along with his trusty Hofner guitar can be relied upon to make sure the show will go off with a bang.

Diamond Jubilee concert stars in action...

Diamond Jubilee Concert

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