Kaiser Chiefs have revealed just how big an influence The Beatles were on their music.

Speaking to 6Music at Paul McCartney’s gig at Anfield stadium, Liverpool yesterday (June 1), the Leeds quintet proclaimed the band as one of the most important this century.

The band’s bassist Simon Rix said: “I’ve said this before that I think Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are up there, if not the most influential people who are still alive.”

He added: “I don’t know who is more influential than those two really, because I think that the influence of The Beatles, the impact that they had on everything at the time, not just music, you know your shoes and clothes and your hair and moustaches, everything, furniture - if The Beatles had never happened then we’d be living in a parallel universe.”

The Kaiser Chiefs performed alongside McCartney and The Zutons as part of a Capital Of Culture gig.