Chrissie Hynde Covers ‘Let It Be’ [Video]

Chrissie Hynde appears on the upcoming Paul McCartney tribute album, The Art of McCartney, singing a heartfelt version of the Beatles classic “Let It Be.”

Her take on the song has hit the Internet, and has The Pretenders frontwoman joined by gospel backup singers.

“It’s a challenge to do a song like that that’s so ingrained in people’s consciousness, but I think she did a great job,” producer Ralph Sal, told The Wall Street Journal, which debuted the video yesterday. “A female vocalist changes it to a good degree.”

In a behind-the scenes video about the making of the album, Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn reveals the meaning behind of the song. “Let It Be' sounds like a hymn, and because it says 'mother Mary,' people assume it's a religious song, but it isn't," he explained in the video (which you can watch below).

"'Mother Mary' is Paul's mother Mary – his mother was Mary McCartney – and Paul was 26 when he wrote this. He was 14 when his mother died, so only 12 years earlier that she had died..... [In the song] he's in trouble, he's having a troubled moment, and his mother comes to him and says, 'Don't worry, son, everything will be all right. The answer will come. Let it be, let the answer be.'"

“The Art of McCartney,” which also features covers by artists such as Bob Dylan, KISS, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, Brian Wilson and Alice Cooper, comes out Nov. 18.

Here's the pride of Akron, Ohio, Chrissie Hynde and her take on "Let It Be".

Lewisohn explains the song's origins.