Adam Levine reveals lesson from Paul McCartney joke gone wrong after Beatles tribute

Adam Levine is looking back on an awkward run-in with music royalty.

The Maroon 5 frontman said during a Thursday appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" that Beatles vocalist Paul McCartney once cracked a joke about Levine's performing skills, then over-corrected after fearing the quip had fallen flat.

"I told you I've been scared a handful of … times in my life, that was definitely one of them," Levine said of a performance he did alongside bandmates to honor 50 years of The Beatles. The televised tribute show, to mark 50 years since the British band had appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show," saw Maroon 5 cover "All My Loving" − one of the group's signature hits.  Footage of The Beatles themselves playing the iconic tune was projected behind them, Levine recalled, then paused to allow Maroon 5's performance halfway through to finish the rest of the song.

"I'm sorry man, you can be too cool, but not always," Levine recalled of performing in front of his heroes. "It's Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.

Source: usatoday.com/