'If you are listening...,' Paul McCartney wrote in the caption of his message to the fan from the 1964 clip.
Over the years, countless fans have expressed their love for iconic Beatles musician Paul McCartney. But for one woman, a special moment came when a clip from 1964 resurfaced on social media. In May 2024, the 82-year-old singer-songwriter shared the vintage clip, adding a heartfelt response to a fan named Adrienne, who stood out in the video.
"Paul McCartney, if you are listening, Adrienne from Brooklyn loves you with all her heart," Adrienne cheered on the mike in the vintage clip. Almost 60 years later, McCartney responded to her saying, "Hey, Adrienne. Listen, it's Paul. I saw your video. I'm in Brooklyn now. I'm in New York. I finally got here. We got an exhibition, a photo exhibition. Come along and see it." The musician was referring to “Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm,” an archival presentation exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum from May 3 to August 18.
According to the museum's website, the exhibition features more than 250 photographs captured by McCartney on his Pentax camera during the "frenzy of Beatlemania in 1963–64, when the band’s first U.S. tour skyrocketed them to superstardom." On Instagram, the museum addressed Adrienne and wrote, "And Adrienne from Brooklyn, if you are listening, Paul McCartney from Liverpool loves you too."
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Soon after, the vintage clip went viral on social media, sparking curiosity about “Adrienne from Brooklyn.” Who was she, and where is she now? Rolling Stone magazine provided a clue, identifying the woman as likely Adrienne D’Onofrio, a mom from Staten Island.
The full 1964 clip soon surfaced online, showing teenage Adrienne saying, “I love the Beatles and I’ll always love ’em, even when I’m 105 and an old grandmother.” The now-viral video was shot by CBS News during the Beatles’ first U.S. visit in 1964 and was later featured in Ron Howard’s 2016 documentary “Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years.”
The woman was identified by her children after the video went viral. Nicole D'Onofrio Pan posted a TikTok video claiming the woman was their mom, Adrienne, who passed away in 1992. Pan captioned the video, “Hi @paulmccartney we believe we have the answer! Our mother may very well have been ‘Adrienne From Brooklyn!’” Three women also featured in the video and they can be heard saying, "Hey, Sir Paul! I hear you’re looking for our mother.”
After Adrienne’s death, as John and Nicole rummaged through her stuff, they discovered old Beatles records from her closet, the only records she would play around the house. One of the records, John recollected, had “Adrienne and Paul” scribbled on the sleeve, with a heart doodled around it. Adrienne had also gifted Beatles commemorative coins to her niece, celebrating the band’s 1974 trip to the US. If she could hear McCartney’s message, she would, of course, be ecstatic right now.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 6, 2024. It has since been updated.
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