It apparently came to Sir Paul McCartney in a dream in 1965 and could have been called Scrambled Eggs.

Now the musician has been given a special award to mark the 50th anniversary of the composition of The Beatles’ song Yesterday.

The song is one of the most covered of all time, having been recorded at least 2,200 times, and was voted best song of the 20th century in a BBC Radio 2 poll in 1999. Sir Paul was presented with the award from music licensing company PRS by TV duo Ant and Dec ahead of the opening concert of his European tour at The O2 in London.

Robert Ashcroft, chief executive of PRS for Music, said: “Yesterday is not just an iconic song in Paul’s body of work but an iconic song of the last century.

“PRS has collected rights for the composition since it was released 50 years ago and in that time it has inspired countless writers, been covered by countless artists and has resonated with musicians, radio broadcasters and the public in a way that goes beyond words.

“It is this magic that PRS wanted to recognise in this unique award.”

Sir Paul was joined on stage by Foo Fighters star Dave Grohl for the opening of his Out There Tour, performing I Saw Her Standing There together.

The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers and Game of Thrones star Kit Harington were among the audience.

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