Paul McCartney rocks ‘SNL' season 51 finale with surprise encore

Paul McCartney brought down the curtain on Saturday Night Live season 51, performing as musical guest for the first time in nearly 14 years.

The 83 year old Beatles legend delivered three songs during the finale hosted by Will Ferrell.

He opened with “Days We Left Behind” from his upcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, followed by the classic “Band on the Run.”

As the cast gathered for goodbyes, McCartney corralled the band for a surprise encore, launching into “Coming Up,” the energetic track from his 1980 album McCartney II.

The cast danced along as the audience roared.

McCartney also joined Ferrell and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith in the opening sketch, and later appeared as “Nigel the mechanic” in a comedy bit with Marcello Hernández, Mikey Day and Ashley Padilla.

The appearance marked McCartney’s first regular season SNL performance since December 2012, when Martin Short hosted.

Last year, he closed out the show’s 50th anniversary special with an Abbey Road medley.

Reflecting earlier this year on his new project, McCartney told Rolling Stone that the songs draw heavily on childhood memories in Liverpool.

He said, “It’s just a lot of memories… We didn’t have much at all, but it didn’t matter because all the people were great.”