Fatboy Slim says Paul McCartney is the ‘dad I always wanted’

Fatboy Slim has said that Paul McCartney became the “dad I always wanted” after the pair lived next door to each other.

In a new interview, the DJ – real name Norman Cook – shared stories about their friendship after becoming neighbours with McCartney in Hove.

“It’s always bizarre having Paul McCartney as a neighbour, especially if you’re as much of a Beatles fan as me,” he told NME.

“He’d walk through the back door saying, ‘Only me! Just popped in for a cuppa!’ I’d be singing ‘Hey Jude’ in my head the whole way through!”

Cook described McCartney as a “lovely man”, adding: “[He’s] like the dad I always wanted.”

Cook also shared some advice that he got from McCartney following a controversial Fatboy Slim show on Brighton Beach in 2002.

Cook had organised a free gig, but ended up playing to a quarter of a million people. The show resulted in over 100 people getting injured and one death, for which the DJ was criticised.

“He told me to leave the country – that’s what he’d do when things got on top of him,” Cook said.

Fatboy Slim will go on tour around the UK in March 2023, visiting venues including London, Manchester and Brighton.