Paul McCartney rings in the holidays with live performance “Wonderful Christmastime.”

He’s no Mariah Carey, but Paul McCartney has his own way of ringing in the holiday season, which he did with a rare performance of “Wonderful Christmastime” at his concert in Manchester on Saturday.

McCartney and his band were joined by a group of youth from the You Should Be Dancing Theater Academy for the performance, one of only about a dozen times McCartney has performed the season’s classic live during his long solo career.

The last time McCartney belted out “Wonderful Christmastime” on stage was in 2018, when he played it at three December shows in England. Previously, McCartney had only played the title once this decade, on a visit in December 2016 The Tonight Show.

McCartney has three more gigs planned before Christmas – again tonight at the Co-op Live in Manchester, then two gigs at London’s O2 Arena next week – giving him three more opportunities to perform his 1979 single, one of them Rolling StoneThe best rock & roll Christmas songs of all time.

On the bassist’s current Got Back tour, McCartney also gave the live debut of the Beatles’ “Now and Then” and led an all-star jam of “The End” with Jack White and St. Vincent.