The singers had first met Jackson in 1975, and Jackson’s version of Wings’ ‘Girlfriend’ was the fifth single from his 1979 album Off The Wall. He called McCartney unexpectedly in Christmas 1980 and suggested a collaboration.

It was Christmastime. Somebody rang me up, and this high voice I didn’t recognise said, ‘Hi, Paul.’ I thought, ‘This is a girl fan, and how the hell did she get my number?’ I was quite annoyed. Then the voice said, ‘It’s Michael,’ and suddenly it dawned on me. It wasn’t a girl; it was Michael Jackson, and he basically said, ‘Do you want to make some hits?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah, sure. Come over here.’ Our paths had crossed a few times before. Michael covered the Wings song ‘Girlfriend’ on his album Off The Wall, and I’d known his producer, Quincy Jones, for a long time. Quincy had picked up the Oscar for The Beatles when we won for best Original Song Score with Let It Be in 1971.

Paul McCartney