BEIJING, Nov. 14 -- Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has become the first musician to broadcast a concert into space.

    American astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev awoke to the Beatles classic "Good Day Sunshine," followed by "English Tea" from McCartney's latest album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.

A TV grab shows ISS crew members as they wave while listening to former Beatle Paul McCartney during a live concert broadcast to the orbital laboratory, Nov. 13. (NASA/Reuters)

    McCartney played the songs Nov. 13 in front of a large audience in Anaheim, California, as part of his "US" tour. Footage of the show was simultaneously beamed 354 kilometres away, to the International Space Station (ISS) crew.

    McArthur and Tokarev listened while floating in zero gravity in their blue uniforms. They bobbed up and down and sipped from squeeze pouches through the show, getting a rousing cheer from the audience.

    "That was simply magnificent," McArthur told McCartney.

    "We are just very honoured again that you have joined us. We consider you an explorer just as we are," he added.

    "I can't believe that we're actually transmitting to space!" McCartney said during the show. "This is sensational. I love it."

    It is a tradition to wake astronauts up with recorded songs, but this marked the first time astronauts listened to live music from space.

    McCartney came up with the idea of a live broadcast, after hearing that NASA played "Good Day Sunshine" to the Space Shuttle Discovery crew in August.

    "I was extremely proud to find out that one of my songs was played for the crew of Discovery this summer. In our concert we hope to repay the favour," McCartney had earlier said in a statement.

    McArthur and Tokarev have spent 44 days in space, during a planned six-month long mission.

(Agencies)