In 1957, during the height of racial tensions in America, nine African-American students enrolled in the all-white Little Rock Central High School. While their entrance to the school was protested by the Governor of Arkansas himself, the Little Rock Nine became important figures in the burgeoning civil rights movement. It was at that time when a young Paul McCartney would be inspired to write the song “Blackbird,” one of his greatest works as a songwriter.

Last weekend, McCartney brought his One on One Tour to Little Rock, AR. There, before the concert, McCartney met with two of the Little Rock Nine students: Thelma Mothershed Wair and Elizabeth Eckford.

Naturally, McCartney took a moment out of his performance at the Verizon Arena to honor the two women and the birth of the civil rights movement. He introduced “Blackbird” by saying, “Way back in the Sixties, there was a lot of trouble going on over civil rights, particularly in Little Rock. We would notice this on the news back in England, so it’s a really important place for us, because to me, this is where civil rights started. We would see what was going on and sympathize with the people going through those troubles, and it made me want to write a song that, if it ever got back to the people going through those troubles, it might just help them a little bit, and that’s this next one.”

Watch “Blackbird” from the performance below:

[H/t Rolling Stone]