Sir Paul McCartney claims he has spoken to the late George Harrison through a TREE

Sir Paul McCartney said he is talking to George Harrison, as he believes the spirit of his late friend has inhabited a tree in his home.

The music icon, 78, made a straightforward confession when he appeared on NPR earlier this month, and said his Beatles colleague, who died in 2001 of lung cancer, gave him the pine tree as a gift.

He explained: ‘George was very fond of horticulture, a very good gardener, so he gave me a tree as a gift. It is a large pine tree and is near my gate.

‘When I was leaving the house this morning, I get out of the car, close the gate, look at the tree and say,’ ‘Hi, George’ ‘.

‘There he is, growing strongly. And you know, it takes me back to the time when I hitchhiked with him! They are an ever-present presence, if that’s what you say.

Paul continued: ‘It’s beautiful. He gave it to me – I just planted it. But then, over the years, every time I look at it I say, “That’s the tree that George gave me.”

‘George went into that tree, for me. I hope he is happy with that. ‘

During their time together, the Beatles – which also included John Lennon and Ringo Starr – became one of the most influential bands of all time, with their releases, making them the best-selling musical act of all time.

Sir Paul released his new album McCartney III earlier this month, having written and recorded it during the block earlier this year.

And in a BBC chat with actor Idris Elba, broadcast last Saturday night, the singer admitted that he ‘didn’t realize’ what he was creating when he did it.

He said: ‘[In] lockdown everyone cleaned out their lockers and did all the things they wanted to do. So [making an album] it was my equivalent.

‘I wasn’t trying to make an album. Then, suddenly, I had these 10 songs, I thought: What am I going to do with them? It was only 10 because I didn’t know I was making an album. ‘

During confinement, Paul stayed in the field with his daughter Mary and her children.

On the experience, he continued: ‘I was very lucky. I was locked up with my daughter Mary and her family, and then I was able to go to the studio to work, it was a very safe place. We were distant, we were always very careful.

‘I was on vacation at the beginning of the year and then the lockdown hit, I came back and was locked inside.

‘[It] it was good as it meant i was seeing four of my grandchildren so suddenly it was great.

‘I was able to enter the studio. The government said that you can only work if you cannot work at home. So I don’t have a home studio, my home studio is 20 minutes away.

‘So I started to think, and that song that I had a few months ago and never finished. So, we took this off and I would work on it … ‘