Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr perform together in support of transcendental meditation

The short list of times that two ex-Beatles have performed together in public since the band's breakup got a little longer on Saturday night, as Ringo Starr joined Paul McCartney for three songs at the "Paul McCartney and Friends: Change Begins Within" benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Billy Shears ... " said McCartney, introducing Starr for the song "With a Little Help From My Friends," where Starr sings as a character of that name. The two men shared a microphone for this song, which closed McCartney's show-ending set. McCartney then sang lead and Starr played drums on the show's two encores: "Cosmically Conscious" and "I Saw Her Standing There" (also featuring backing vocals and percussion by other show participants like Eddie Vedder, Donovan, Moby, Sheryl Crow and Bettye LaVette).

The show was a benefit for transcendental meditation education, and McCartney said that he wrote "Cosmically Conscious" in 1968, when Beatles members and other musicians and celebrities were studying transcendental meditation in India. McCartney released the song on his 1993 album, "Off the Ground."

This wasn't the first time that two ex-Beatles have taken a stage together. Starr and George Harrison performed at the 1971 "Concert for Bangladesh" at Madison Square Garden, for instance, and McCartney and Starr paid tribute to Harrison, who died in 2001, at the 2002 "Concert For George" at London's Royal Albert Hall. But such appearances are exceedingly rare, and especially precious now that Starr and McCartney are the only surviving members of the Fab Four.

Both men sang and played with a lot of energy, and they even clowned around a little, pretending to jostle to get in front of each other as they took their final bows. Everyone seemed aware of the significance of the occasion. McCartney also included, in his set, "Here Today," a song he wrote about John Lennon following Lennon's 1980 death. And Crow sang Harrison's "My Sweet Lord." McCartney also showed old photographs and film footage of the Beatles during songs like "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Band on the Run."

Other songs McCartney performed included "Let It Be," "Drive My Car," "Jet," "Got To Get You Into My Life," "Lady Madonna" and "Blackbird." McCartney said this last song was inspired by the Civil Rights movement of the '60s, but that it takes on new meaning in light of the election of Barack Obama. Starr, in his own set, which took place immediately before McCartney's, sang "It Don't Come Easy," "Boys" and "Yellow Submarine," with Vedder and Crow pitching in on backing vocals.

There were many surprises throughout the course of the four-hour concert. An unbilled Jerry Seinfeld did about eight minutes of standup comedy, musing on subjects like public bathrooms, taxis and marriage. Howard Stern spoke about how meditation cured his mother's depression, and changed his own life. Vedder and Ben Harper dueted on "Under Pressure," the 1981 Queen/David Bowie hit. Three musicians who studied meditation in India with the Beatles in 1968 -- Donovan, Paul Horn and Mike Love -- made appearances.

Singer-songwriter Donovan and flutist Horn performed both separately and together. Donovan also dueted, during his set, with Jim James of My Morning Jacket (on "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven") and Crow (on "Season of the Witch"). Beach Boys member Love made a brief speech, getting choked up as he spoke about meditation and world peace. He also sang backing vocals on the two encores. An estimated $3 million was raised at this show, and will go to the David Lynch Foundation, formed by the film director to teach children to meditate.