Sir Paul sings at Harrison tribute

McCartney sang an a cappella version of Yesterday

Sir Paul McCartney has made a surprise guest appearance at a tribute concert in memory of his former bandmate George Harrison.

The charity gig in Harrison's hometown took place on the eve of what would have been the former Beatle's 59th birthday.

George Harrison died in November after a long battle with cancer

A host of artists and bands, including the Merseybeats, Gerry and the Pacemakers and Steve Harley, performed at the event.

Sir Paul took to the stage at the end of the show, to delighted whoops and whistles from the audience at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

"I thought I should just come on and say how much George would have loved this," he told the crowd.

He reminisced about his boyhood friendship with Harrison before saying: "This is for George" and launching into an unaccompanied version of Yesterday.

It's been a very emotional evening and a good bit of craic

Sir Paul McCartney

The audience began clapping in time and joined in.

Artists who had performed earlier in the evening included Ralph McTell, and Pete Wylie while the second half was introduced by producer and Pop Idol judge Pete Waterman.

Later Sir Paul said it had been great to be part of a very special night.

"The audience was brilliant, the acts were brilliant," he said.

"It's been a very emotional evening and a good bit of craic."

My Sweet Lord

The proceeds from the show will go to cancer charities.

Macmillan Cancer Relief, one of the good causes which will benefit from the concert, said it was overjoyed at news of the ticket sales which resulted in a 2,300 sell-out audience.

Paul and George were friends from boyhood

Harrison lost his battle with cancer last year.

The concert came to a climax with a star-studded finale of Harrison's My Sweet Lord.

The song hit the top spot in January, 21 years after it first went to number one.

It was released after his death in November in Los Angeles.

The event was jointly organised by Liverpool City Council, BBC Radio Merseyside, the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo, Macmillan, Radio City, and The Cavern Club.