Sir Paul McCartney played a surprise Valentine's Day concert to just 1,000 fans in New York.

The Beatles legend wowed the capacity crowd at New York's Irving Plaza on Saturday night (14.02.15) with an impromptu two-hour gig which saw him play several of the group's greatest hits and charge just $40 on a first come, first served basis.

The 72-year-old star - who announced the concert earlier that morning - didn't appear on stage until 11pm and was given a great reception as he started performing 'Eight Days a Week'.

He later stunned onlookers when he sang 'One After 909' - a Beatles song he rarely ever plays and one which he penned with the late John Lennon shortly after they became friends in the late 1950s.

Introducing the tune, he said: ''We're going to continue with one of the first songs we wrote, a very long time ago, in Bethlehem.''

The sight and sound of the Beatles legend was almost too much to take for some and one fan attempted to get on stage during his version of 'We Can Work It Out'.

But Paul joked: ''How about you stay there and I stay here ... I've got security, baby!''

The star performed several other Beatles classics including 'Hey Jude', 'Lady Madonna', 'Let It Be', 'And I Love Her', 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' and he aptly concluded his set with 1969 hit 'The End', which appeared on their 'Abbey Road' album.