Sir Paul McCartney has heaped praise on an Indigenous version of his classic Beatles song āBlackbird.ā
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 Miākmaqāa language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people.
āThereās an incredible version a Canadian girlās done, you can see it on YouTube, itās in her native languageā¦ itās really cool check it out,ā 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 Stevensā song has been viewed more than 417,000 times on YouTube.
āBlackbirdā appeared on the 1968 double album āThe Beatles,ā commonly referred to as the āWhite Album.ā
McCartney has suggested in interviews that āBlackbirdā was inspired by the black civil rights movement.