Paul McCartney films cameo appearance for the sequel of “This Is Spinal Tap”

“This Is Spinal Tap,” a 1984 American mockumentary comedy film, was co-written and directed by Rob Reiner. Forty years later, Reiner embarked on a sequel to the film. A host of real-life rock stars, including Elton John and Paul McCartney, agreed to make cameo appearances, with their segments filmed in March 2024 in New Orleans.

From nola.com, April 1, 2024:

[Paul McCartney and Elton John] each made a quick trip to New Orleans to film cameo appearances in the sequel to the 1984 mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” which is currently in production in New Orleans.

The original “Spinal Tap,” directed by Rob Reiner, starred Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as the bumbling members of a fictional British heavy metal band. The spoof of music documentaries and rock music clichés — from getting lost backstage to a comically miniature Stonehenge prop to an amplifier that famously cranked up all the way to 11 — struck a chord with music fans and musicians alike.

Forty years after the original film’s release, Reiner, McKean, Guest and Shearer have reunited to shoot the sequel in New Orleans, where Shearer lives much of the year.

Reiner revealed during a podcast appearance in November that both McCartney and Elton, plus Garth Brooks and other real-life stars, had agreed to appear in the sequel.

Sure enough, Elton took part in a Spinal Tap concert sequence shot at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena on March 16. […]

A week later, it was McCartney’s turn. Unlike Elton, he didn’t shoot a concert scene. Instead, his cameo was reportedly shot during a couple hours at a local film production studio. […]

From deadline.com, July 17, 2024:

[Rob] Reiner shared an update on his progress on the Spinal Tap sequel. He said the New Orleans shoot is just about the last one for the film, which began production in February of this year.

“It’s going good. Our first screening for our family and friends will be probably in August,” he said, “and then sometime in September we’ll start showing it to distributors, and we’re hoping to have it out sometime late spring or early summer of next year.” […]

“We got everybody together and we added a couple of surprise guests,” Reiner said. “We have Paul McCartney and Elton John and Garth Brooks. It’s fun.” […]

‘Schnadle’ is a fun word.

Yeah, that was Chris [Guest]’ term. He always said, “You’ve got to get people who are good schnadlers.” People who can do schtick with each other, who can improv and bounce back and forth with each other.

You have cameos from some huge music stars, including Paul McCartney and Elton John. Were they good schnadlers?

They turned out to be. We came up with a good idea for Paul, and he was excited to do it. And we had a great idea for Elton. They’re both terrific in the film, both comfortable just talking off the cuff. […]

Finally, what can we expect in the way of new songs?

There’s going to be an album that we did for Interscope, which we’ve finished, and it’ll have a couple of cuts by Elton John and one cut by Paul McCartney — songs that they sing in the film, which aren’t Spinal Tap-type songs, they’re ones that people know. But the rest of them are new.  […]

Rob Reiner – From Empire Online – Spinal Tap 2: Rob Reiner On Unlocking The Sequel And Reuniting The Band – World-Exclusive Q&A, December 18, 2024

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