Paul McCartney has described working with fellow Beatles bandmate Ringo Star as ‘magic’ ahead of the re-release of their song ‘Beautiful Night’ later today.

Having left The Beatles in 1970, McCartney reunited with drummer Ringo 27 years later to make the track as a part of his 1997 album ‘Flaming Pie’.

And as the song is re-mastered and released on Friday, the legendary songwriter has opened up about how his reunion with Ringo came about.

Speaking about the original recording of 'Beautiful Night’, he told the NME: "I’d been saying to Ringo for years that it’d be great to do something, because we’d never really done that much work together outside The Beatles.

"One night Jeff (Lynne, Electric Light Orchestra co-founder) suggested, ‘Why don’t you get Ringo in?’ and I said, ‘OK.’ It just sort of happened.”

"I had this song ‘Beautiful Night’ which I’d written quite a few years ago. I’d always liked it but I felt I didn’t quite have the right version of it.

"So I got this song out for when Ringo was coming in, and right away it was just like the old days."

McCartney also spoke fascinatingly about how he felt jamming with Ringo years on from their unprecedented success.

"When I wasn’t on the mic, in the solo breaks and stuff, I really made a point of turning round and watching this guy drum. ‘And I’m thinking, my god, you know the memories across this 10-yard gap here, him on the drums and me on the bass, the lifetime that’s going on here’," he added.

"So, you know, it’s a sort of magic. And he and I these days get quite emotional about it, because we should. We ought to. It’s a bloody emotional thing, the years. If nothing else."

The Beatles have sold over 600 million records worldwide, more than any other artist in history.