Music · Rock
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are getting back together — for one night, in Las Vegas, for veterans.
The two surviving Beatles will join Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh on stage at his VetsAid festival at MGM Grand Garden Arena on January 29, 2027, in what the announcement bills as a collaborative super-set, with more surprise guests expected. McCartney and Starr are not passing through on separate tours. They are scheduled to play together, on the same stage, in the same set — something they have done in public only once this decade.
That once was December 19, 2024, at London's O2 Arena, where Starr walked out during the finale of McCartney's Got Back tour and sat behind the drums for “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Helter Skelter.” “It's fantastic, playing with me old mate, but there comes a time when we've got to go home,” Starr told the crowd that night. “All that remains to be said, I'll see you next time.” Next time now has a date.
McCartney is 84 now. Starr is 86. Neither man treats a stage like a farewell lap — Starr released his 22nd solo album, Long Long Road, this spring, and McCartney's 20th, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, includes “Home to Us,” a song featuring Starr. The Las Vegas set gives that studio collaboration its live counterpart.
Why Las Vegas, and why Walsh
VetsAid is Walsh's own creation — the benefit he founded in 2017 to support military veterans and their families. The Las Vegas show is its 10th annual edition, and across its first decade the nonprofit has raised and distributed more than $5 million in grants to organizations serving veterans. For this edition, organizers say, the proceeds will be directed to Nevada-based veteran organizations, or groups with operations in the state.
The cause is personal for Walsh, and so is one of the headliners. His father, a U.S. military pilot, died while on active duty in Okinawa when Walsh was 20 months old. Starr is his brother-in-law, and the two have been bandmates since Walsh joined the first All-Starr Band in 1989. The city is personal now, too. “Having spent the past two years at the Sphere and working with the hardworking people of Las Vegas, I want to show them my gratitude and respect,” Walsh said in a statement announcing the show. “This city has taken such good care of me and my family that it would be my privilege to give back to the large veteran community here and to their families.”
His invitation carried the headline himself: “Join me on stage with my musical heroes Paul and Ringo (and more surprise guests). Support our veterans and support each other.”
A bill that would headline without them
Strip the reunion off the poster and this is still a serious night of music. Las Vegas natives the Killers bring hometown star power to their own arena. The War on Drugs, St. Vincent, and Lucius play full sets of their own — a lineup that spans several generations of rock audiences, the same generations a McCartney–Starr set speaks to all at once. The night starts at 6 p.m.
What it takes to be in the room
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, November 13, at 10 a.m. PT via AXS, starting at $200 before taxes and fees, with exclusive tickets and pricing available for veterans. Veterans and active-duty military get the first window — a presale opens Tuesday, November 10, at 10 a.m. with verification, and an artist presale follows on Wednesday. All net proceeds from the festival go toward veteran-related charities, coordinated with the Combined Arms Institute. VetsAid is also running a sweepstakes with Fandiem and Bandsintown: a trip to Las Vegas for the show, premium seats, backstage lounge access, and coffee with Walsh before the concert.
Two Beatles on one stage used to be the biggest story in music by default. In 2027 it happens once, in an arena on the Las Vegas Strip, because a guitarist from the Eagles asked his heroes to help him take care of veterans. January 29 is the date. Friday is when the tickets move.
Sources
Rolling Stone — “Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to Reunite at Las Vegas Show in 2027” (November 9, 2026)
Casino.org — “Surviving Beatles to Reunite at Joe Walsh's Vegas Veteran Benefit” (November 9, 2026)
Joe Walsh / VetsAid — official announcement, “Joe Walsh & Friends Hit the Jackpot: VetsAid 2027 Lands in Las Vegas” (November 9, 2026)
Video: Paul McCartney (official YouTube) — “'Got Back' with Ringo Starr at The O2, London”
