Paul McCartney recently brought out his former bandmate Ringo Starr during a concert in London. But while such public reunions of the Beatles are rare, they take place quite frequently in McCartney's subconscious.

"As a musician, you often have dreams about being in the studio or on stage," he told BBC Radio Scotland (as reported by the Daily Mail), "so I’m often with the guys. Just the other morning, I woke up and I was with George [Harrison]. And that was very nice. I think of George as my little mate – he was the youngest in the group. That’s how I run into John [Lennon] and George these days. So the Beatles have re-formed – in my head."

The Beatles announced their breakup in 1970 and they never reunited as a foursome, although they came close on a number of occasions. In the mid-'90s, more than a decade after Lennon's murder, McCartney, Harrison and Starr overdubbed new parts onto a pair of Lennon demos for the Anthology project. Then Harrison passed away in 2001, but the spirits of McCartney's departed colleagues remain with him.

"John and George are still a big part of my life, always will be," he also admitted. "It would have been great to get the Beatles back together again. People always say, 'What if'? But we can’t so, sadly, that’s not going to happen. I often think about them with a lot of sadness, because they should still be here. In John’s case, it was a terrible thing. In George’s, a terrible illness."

"Even though there is sadness, the main thing is the joy of knowing those two guys," McCartney concluded. "I miss them a lot."

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