LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - McCartney, who recently remarried, brought several other rock musicians to join him for the occasion. Singer-songwriter Neil Young gave McCartney a cheery introduction, while Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh and pop music power couple Elvis Costello and Diana Krall were there in the thrall.

Jazz great Herbie Hancock made the scene as well as musician-producer Don Was and former Electric Light Orchestra leader/Traveling Wilburys member Jeff Lynne. McCartney's wife Nancy and son James were there as well.

"Let me tell you a little bit about our friend Paul here just as a musician," Young said, wearing a black leather Buffalo Springfield tour jacket. "When I was in high school and the Beatles came out, I loved the Beatles and I tried to learn how to play like them, and no one could figure out what Paul was doing on the bass. Not only was he playing differently because he plays left-handed, he played notes that no one had put together before -- in a way that made us stand in awe of this great musician."

McCartney then stepped to the microphone and first acknowledged his debt to those "three other guys -- so thanks, John, George and Ringo.

While Starr, the only other surviving Beatle, lives in Southern California, McCartney said, "Ringo's a little under the weather, so he's not here."

"When I was growing up in Liverpool and listening to Buddy Holly and the other rock 'n' roll greats, I never thought I'd ever come to get a star on the Walk of Fame," said the 69-year-old McCartney, a sentiment no likely shared by members of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who had been after him to accept the award ever since it was approved for him in 1993. "But here we are today," he said.

"Today," marked the 48th anniversary of the Beatles' game-changing U.S. television debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show." The four mop tops gave an anxious America another reason to stand up and cheer shortly after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The ceremony also came synergistically just two days after the release of McCartney's latest album,  "Kisses on the Bottom," a collection of mostly pre-rock pop songs he loved as a child, supplemented by two originals.

After the ceremony, McCartney had a full slate of live appearances to attend to. Thanking his fans, McCartney went right back to what he does best - making and performing music.

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