Paul McCartney Blames Giant Bell For Bad Olympics Opening Ceremony Set

As was witnessed by a global audience this past summer, Paul McCartney's performance at the opening ceremonies to the 2012 London Olympics was anything but smooth. And while many suspected the use of a backing track not quite in time with his performance as the culprit, McCartney shed light on the incident.

In an interview with NME -- and reported by The Express -- McCartney said a giant bell ringing in the stadium during the July 12 spectacle distracted him from the performance.

"I fucked up," McCartney told the publication. "I was supposed to wait for a cue. But I forgot. Why? Well, there's this bloody great bell that we didn't know about. It was deafening... We prerecorded a playback in case all hell broke loose... We were live, everyone was there, the world was ready and this bloody great bell goes off.

McCartney said he compounded the problem by not waiting for it.

"And I forget I've gotta wait for it, so I go, 'Hey Jude,' and someone presses the playback. So there's me on the backing track, and actual me; two of us singing. The drummer wouldn't look at me because he was in hysterics and I was thinking, 'What have I done?' There was no stopping, it was the Olympics."

Perhaps a quick snippet of The Beatles' "Let It Be" or "Two Of Us" would've been an apt and cheeky change of direction, but McCartney and his band carried on before things righted themselves.

McCartney will play at the star-studded 12.12.12 concert Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden to benefit the Robin Hood Relief Fund aimed at those devastated by Hurricane Sandy. The musician released a new album Kisses on the Bottom earlier this year, one which has been nominated in three categories at the upcoming Grammy Awards.

Meanwhile, McCartney's late wife Linda McCartney will have her photographs shown as part of her first comprehensive retrospective next year. According to McCartney's site, the exhibit will run from June 6-October 6 at Vienna's Kunst Haus Wien.