Editing Yesterday (song) (section)

==Reception and legacy==
"Yesterday" is one of the most recorded songs in the history of popular music. Its entry in ''[[Guinness World Records]]'' states that, by January 1986, 1,600 cover versions had been made.{{sfn|Guinness World Records|2009}} After [[Muzak]] switched in the 1990s to programs based on commercial recordings, its inventory grew to include about 500 "Yesterday" covers.{{sfn|Owen|2006}} In his 1972 article on the development of rock music, Joel Vance of ''[[Sound & Vision (magazine)|Stereo Review]]'' magazine credited the song with originating the vogue for [[Progressive rock|classical]] and [[Baroque pop|baroque rock]], anticipating [[the Rolling Stones]]' recording of "[[As Tears Go By (song)|As Tears Go By]]" and works by artists such as [[the Moody Blues]] and [[the Classics IV]].<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Joel|last=Vance|title=The Fragmentation of Rock|magazine=[[Sound & Vision (magazine)|Stereo Review]]|date=February 1972|page=66 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/70s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1972-02.pdf|access-date=31 July 2021}}</ref>

"Yesterday" won the [[Ivor Novello Award]] for "Outstanding Song of 1965",{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=236}} and came second in the "Most Performed Work of the Year" category, behind the Lennon–McCartney composition "[[Michelle (song)|Michelle]]". More recently, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked "Yesterday" at number 13 on its 2004 list "[[The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time]]"{{sfn|Rolling Stone|2007}} and fourth on its 2010 list of "The Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs".{{sfn|Rolling Stone|2011}}<ref name=RollingStone100>{{cite web|title=4. Yesterday |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-beatles-songs-20110919/yesterday-19691231|work=100 Greatest Beatles Songs |publisher=Rolling Stone |access-date=21 May 2013}}</ref> In 1999, [[Broadcast Music Incorporated]] (BMI) placed "Yesterday" third on its list of songs of the 20th century most performed on American radio and television, with approximately seven million performances. "Yesterday" was surpassed only by [[the Association]]'s "[[Never My Love]]" and [[the Righteous Brothers]]' "[[You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin']]".<ref name=BMI232893/> "Yesterday" was voted Best Song of the 20th century in a 1999 [[BBC Radio 2]] poll.{{sfn|BBC News|1999}}

The song was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 1997. Although it was nominated for [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]] at the [[1966 Grammy Awards]], it lost out to [[Tony Bennett]]'s "[[The Shadow of Your Smile]]".<ref>{{cite web|title=GRAMMY Hall of Fame |url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |access-date=27 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122042616/http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |archive-date=22 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Beatles|url=https://www.grammy.com/artist/the-beatles|publisher=Grammy.com|access-date=27 January 2014}}</ref> "Yesterday" was nominated for six [[Grammy Awards|Grammys]] in total that year, and "Help!" was also nominated in four categories.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=226}} After the band had failed to win any of the ten awards, [[Alan W. Livingston|Alan Livingston]], the head of Capitol Records, officially protested about the results, saying that "Yesterday" being passed over for the Song of the Year "makes a mockery of the whole event".{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=227}}

[[File:Paul McCartney with Linda McCartney - Wings - 1976.jpg|right|thumbnail|Following the Beatles' break-up, McCartney (pictured with his wife [[Linda McCartney|Linda]] in 1976) began performing the song live in 1975 during his [[Wings Over the World tour]].]]
[[Chuck Berry]] said that "Yesterday" was the song that he wished that he had written.<ref>{{cite web|title=FOX 2 Exclusive: An Interview With Chuck Berry|website = [[YouTube]]| date=7 November 2008 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtFHpsf-2n8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/QtFHpsf-2n8| archive-date=17 November 2021 | url-status=live|access-date=28 December 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> "Yesterday" has also been criticised for being mundane and mawkish. [[Bob Dylan]] had a marked dislike for the song, stating that "If you go into the [[Library of Congress]], you can find a lot better than that. There are millions of songs like 'Michelle' and 'Yesterday' written in [[Tin Pan Alley]]." Accompanied by Harrison, Dylan recorded his own version of "Yesterday" four years later, on 1 May 1970,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=20 November 2020 |title=Flashback: Bob Dylan Sings an Impromptu 'Yesterday' With George Harrison in 1970 |url=https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-george-harrison-yesterday-beatles-1970-19602/ |access-date=5 June 2024 |website=Rolling Stone Australia |language=en-AU}}</ref> but it was never released.{{sfn|Mallick|2000}}

Shortly before he died in 1980, Lennon commented, "Although the lyrics don't resolve into any sense, they're good lines. They certainly work ... but if you read the whole song, it doesn't say anything" and added the song was "beautiful – and I never wished I'd written it".<ref>Sheff, David. (1981) ''The Playboy Interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono'' p. 118</ref> Lennon made reference to "Yesterday" in his song "[[How Do You Sleep? (John Lennon song)|How Do You Sleep?]]" on his 1971 album ''[[Imagine (John Lennon album)|Imagine]]''. The song appears to attack McCartney with the line "The only thing you done was yesterday, but since you've gone you're just another day", a reference to McCartney's recent hit "[[Another Day (Paul McCartney song)|Another Day]]".

In 2001, McCartney said that he had asked [[Yoko Ono]] to agree to change the writing credit for "Yesterday" from "Lennon/McCartney" to "McCartney/Lennon". He said that Ono refused, which was one of the reasons for their poor relationship at the time.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/fs1TYtUjoiI Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210324231047/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs1TYtUjoiI Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|title=Howard Interviews Paul McCartney 10-18-2001| date=21 January 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs1TYtUjoiI|language=en|access-date=8 December 2021}}{{cbignore}}.</ref>

At the [[48th Annual Grammy Awards|2006 Grammy Awards]], McCartney performed "Yesterday" live as a mash-up with [[Linkin Park]] and [[Jay Z]]'s "[[Numb/Encore]]".

In 2012, the [[BBC]] reported that "Yesterday" remained the fourth-most-successful song of all time in terms of royalties paid, having amassed a total of £19.5 million in payments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.didyouwatchit.com/bbc4/bbc4-the-worlds-richest-songs/ |title=BBC4….The World's Richest Songs |publisher=Did You Watch It? |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101163252/http://www.didyouwatchit.com/bbc4/bbc4-the-worlds-richest-songs/ |archive-date=1 January 2016}}</ref>