Sir Paul McCartney has heaped praise on an Indigenous version of his classic Beatles song 鈥淏lackbird.鈥�
The former Beatle told the audience at one of his recent concerts to watch the video on YouTube.
Grade 10 student Emma Stevens became a viral hit in April singing the song entirely in Mi鈥檏maq鈥攁 language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people.
鈥淭here鈥檚 an incredible version a Canadian girl鈥檚 done, you can see it on YouTube, it鈥檚 in her native language鈥� it鈥檚 really cool check it out,鈥� McCartney said in a concert clip posted to Twitter.
The 16-year-old music student at Allison Bernard Memorial High School in Eskasoni, N.S., hopes the song will raise awareness of the dying language.
The video accompanying Stevens鈥� song has been viewed more than 417,000 times on YouTube.
鈥淏lackbird鈥� appeared on the 1968 double album 鈥淭he Beatles,鈥� commonly referred to as the 鈥淲hite Album.鈥�
McCartney has suggested in interviews that 鈥淏lackbird鈥� was inspired by the black civil rights movement.
