Sir Paul McCartney has heaped praise on an Indigenous version of his classic Beatles song 鈥淏lackbird.鈥
The former Beatle told the audience at one of his recent concerts to watch the video on YouTube.
Grade 10 student Emma Stevens became a viral hit in April singing the song entirely in Mi鈥檏maq鈥攁 language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people.
鈥淭here鈥檚 an incredible version a Canadian girl鈥檚 done, you can see it on YouTube, it鈥檚 in her native language鈥 it鈥檚 really cool check it out,鈥 McCartney said in a concert clip posted to Twitter.
The 16-year-old music student at Allison Bernard Memorial High School in Eskasoni, N.S., hopes the song will raise awareness of the dying language.
The video accompanying Stevens鈥 song has been viewed more than 417,000 times on YouTube.
鈥淏lackbird鈥 appeared on the 1968 double album 鈥淭he Beatles,鈥 commonly referred to as the 鈥淲hite Album.鈥
McCartney has suggested in interviews that 鈥淏lackbird鈥 was inspired by the black civil rights movement.