“I asked Paul McCartney to play bass on a Rolling Stones song: silence for 10 seconds, then ‘Yeah, I’d love to’”: Super-producer Andrew Watt reveals his secret to convincing music legends to collaborate

Andrew Watt performs onstage during the Recording Academy Honors presented by The Black Music Collective during the 66th GRAMMY Awards on February 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

By now, Andrew Watt is best-known for working alongside some of the biggest artists in the world. From recently scoring a global hit with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' Die With A Smile to collaborating with an enviable list of talent from rock’s heyday – The Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, Pearl Jam, and yes, even Paul McCartney. So what’s truly setting him apart as a producer? Pushing even established artists out of their comfort zones.

“You lose your shit privately,” he tells Variety. “Because Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elton John, Eddie Vedder – they’re fully capable of producing an album by themselves. They understand song structure, mix, a good snare-drum sound, they’ve done this forever. So none of them needs a producer – but they are choosing to hire a producer.”