Sir Paul McCartney briefly pulled down the airs of 50 years of rock and roll grandeur yesterday to march with the people and demonstrate against a problem which has personally affected the superstar.

Yesterday saw thousands take to the streets across America to demonstrate against gun violence which continues to plague the American people and plague schoolchildren. On CNN yesterday, where he was asked if he thinks gun control can be accomplished on a legislative level, he answered “I’m like everyone—I don’t know,” he admitted. “But this is what we can do. And so I’m here to do it.”

McCartney went on to remember bandmate John Lennon, saying, “One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here. So it’s important to me.” Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman outside of his apartment building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in 1980.

Find a clip from McCartney’s interview below.