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Paul McCartney

 
Who2 Profiles:

Paul McCartney, Rock Musician / Songwriter

Sir Paul McCartney
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  • Born: 18 June 1942
  • Birthplace: Liverpool, England
  • Best Known As: Singer and composer for The Beatles

Paul McCartney was a singer, songwriter and guitarist for The Beatles, the biggest rock band of the 1960s. Paul McCartney was first invited to join John Lennon's band The Quarrymen in 1957. Eventually George Harrison and Ringo Starr joined up as well, and the new band became The Beatles. Almost all of their songs were written by McCartney and Lennon, who produced dozens of classic songs ranging from "A Hard Day's Night" and "Yesterday" to "Let it Be" and "Hey, Jude." Paul McCartney released his first solo album in 1970, just before the breakup of The Beatles. McCartney soon formed the band Wings (featuring his wife, Linda), touring extensively and recording albums including Band on the Run and Venus & Mars. Paul McCartney continued to record and perform throughout the 1980s and '90s, and was awarded the MBE in 1997, making him Sir Paul McCartney. After Linda McCartney died of breast cancer in 1998, he became more publicly active in charitable causes. Paul McCartney married model and activist Heather Mills on 11 June 2002 at Castle Leslie at Glaslough in County Monaghan, Ireland. Their daughter Beatrice Milly was born in October 2003, but the couple separated in 2006; their divorce was finalized in 2008, with Mills getting a settlement of 24.3 million pounds. Paul McCartney married Nancy Shevell, a 51-year-old businesswoman from New York, on 9 October 2011.

Way back in 1979, Paul McCartney was awarded with a special rhodium disc for selling over 200 million albums... Paul McCartney plays guitar left-handed... He is often called "Macca" by fans... The name of The Beatles was a play on the name of Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets... McCartney's daughter Stella became a popular fashion designer.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

Sir James Paul McCartney

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(born June 18, 1942, Liverpool, Eng.) British singer and songwriter. Born to a working-class family, he learned piano but switched to guitar after hearing American rock-and-roll recordings. In the mid-1950s he met John Lennon, with whom he formed the Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles. He and Lennon cowrote scores of songs, including some of the most popular songs of the 20th century. He released his first solo album in 1970. With his wife, the photographer Linda Eastman (1941 – 98), he formed the group Wings; their hit albums include Band on the Run (1973) and Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976). After the band dissolved, McCartney had a string of hits in the 1980s. In Rio de Janeiro in 1990, he set a world record by performing before a paying audience of more than 184,000. He was knighted in 1997.

For more information on Sir James Paul McCartney, visit Britannica.com.

Oxford Dictionary of Music:

Paul McCartney

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Sir Paul McCartney

(b Liverpool, 1942). Eng. songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and organist. Wrote first song 1956. Member of the Beatles pop group 1960–70; formed new group Wings 1971. Comp. Liverpool Oratorio (with Carl Davis), 1991, and many songs (some with John Lennon) incl. Eleanor Rigby, Yesterday, etc. Mus. for several films. Over 200,000,000 recordings of his comps. sold. MBE 1965. Knighted 1997.



Gale Encyclopedia of Biography:

Paul McCartney

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Paul McCartney (born 1942), a member of the famous band The Beatles and later a solo artist, is oneof the most successful rock stars in the history of the genre. His career spans four decades and has garnered him not only several hits but knighthood as well.

The most commercially successful rock star to date, McCartney was born James Paul McCartney in Liverpool, England, on June 18, 1942. His father, Jim, was a bandleader, and his mother, Mary, was a nurse. McCartney was an above-average student, attending school at The Liverpool Institute.

Teen Years Foundation for Future

When McCartney was 14, his mother died of breast cancer. He also wrote his first song that year and learned guitar before age 15. A mutual friend introduced McCartney to John Lennon at a church picnic during the summer of 1957. Lennon was in a skiffle band called the Quarrymen, which McCartney joined soon after they met. Lennon and McCartney began songwriting together at that point, agreeing to share all songwriting credits.

In 1960, the Quarrymen became The Beatles, and McCartney began playing bass guitar. The initial lineup featured John Lennon on guitar and vocals, George Harrison on guitar, and Stuart Sutcliffe on drums. Ringo Starr later replaced Sutcliffe.

The Beatles

The Beatles were signed by EMI in 1962, and Brian Epstein signed on as their manager. George Martin produced their first album. "Love Me Do," their debut single, reached the top 20 in the UK. Their second single, "Please, Please Me" went to number two. When their third single, "From Me to You," went number one in 1963, the Beatlemania craze had hit.

In 1964 "Beatlemania" hit the U.S. "Yesterday," released by The Beatles in 1965, became the most popular song in history, according to Rolling Stone, and was played more than six million times on the radio in the U.S. alone. Only a year later, in 1966, the Beatles gave up touring.

A Long-Lasting Romance

Paul met Linda Eastman, an American photographer, in 1967 while engaged to British girlfriend Jane Asher. The engagement was broken off, and McCartney saw Eastman on and off for a couple of years. The two married on March 12, 1969. The marriage was to become one of the most famously stable marriages in the entertainment industry.

Bob Spitz wrote in the New York Times, "Of all his accomplishments, McCartney points to his family as his proudest. His 28-year marriage remains one of the sturdiest in a profession littered by broken relationships." The McCartneys raised four children: Heather (born 1963), from Linda's first marriage, is a potter and jeweler; Mary (born 1969), a photographer and animal rights campaigner; Stella (born 1971), a fashion designer; and James (born 1977), a guitarist. The family, for a long time, lived in a two-bedroom home in Scotland.

Beatles Ended, Solo Career Began

In 1968, disagreements began an irreparable rift among The Beatles. When a new business manager was needed for the group, McCartney suggested his wife's father, Lee Eastman, an attorney. His bandmates, however, chose American businessman Allen Klein, creating further tensions within the group. McCartney later pointed to this incident as the principal reason for the group splitting up.

McCartney and the other Beatles began work on solo albums. McCartney was released in April 1970, a month before the last Beatles album, Let It Be, was released. McCartney played all the instruments; Linda performed backup vocals. The album featured the US number one hit "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," and "Another Day" which went to number two on the UK charts.

On April 10, 1970, McCartney told a magazine he was no longer with The Beatles, but it was not until December 31, 1970, that McCartney sued Klein and the other three Beatles, effectively ending their partnership.

The McCartneys Formed Wings

In 1971, McCartney released the single "Another Day" just prior to the release of his second album, Ram. Later that same year, he formed the group Wings with wife Linda on vocals, Denny Laine (formerly of the Moody Blues) on guitar, and Denny Seiwell on drums. The group's first album, Wildlife, was released in December 1971.

In 1972, Wings added Henry McCullough, a studio guitarist, and Geoff Britton, drummer, to their lineup. The group toured the UK and then released three singles: "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" (banned by the BBC), "Mary Had A Little Lamb," and "Hi, Hi, Hi"/"C Moon." They followed these in 1973 with the album, Red Rose Speedway, featuring the hit single, "My Love." McCullough and Seiwell left the band before the fourth album.

In 1973, Band on the Run, recorded by the McCartneys, was considered a great comeback and topped the charts in the United States, eventually selling three million copies. Singles "Band on the Run" and "Jet" were US and UK top 10 hits.

Jimmy McCullough (no relation to Henry) and Joe English on guitar and drums respectively were added to the lineup. The new Wings released 1975's Venus and Mars, and 1976's At the Speed of Sound, both hit albums. In 1976, the Wings Over the World Tour spawned the live album, Wings Over America. In 1978, Wings released London Town with the U.K. single, "Mull of Kintyre," which sold a record-setting two million plus copies in Britain. McCullough left the group later in the year, but Wings continued with 1979's hit album, Back to the Egg.

On the 1980 leg of the tour supporting Back to the Egg in Japan, McCartney was arrested at Narita on January 16 when customs officials found 7.7 ounces of marijuana in his luggage. McCartney spent 10 days in jail, but in the end, the prosecutor did not file charges. At Amsterdam's Schipol Airport on his return trip, McCartney told reporters (as quoted in The Globe and Mail) that marijuana "should be decriminalized. Reliable medical tests should be carried out and these would show it's not harmful."

Another Era Ends

Later that same year, on December 8, 1980, Lennon was murdered outside his New York City apartment. A distraught McCartney cancelled the Wings tour. Laine, the only permanent member of Wings other than the McCartneys, quit the band, effectively breaking it up.

During 1980, a solo album, McCartney II, was released, featuring the hits "Coming Up" and "Waterfalls." A third solo album, Tug of War, produced by George Martin, was released in 1982.

Back to the Top

The early 1980s began a renaissance of sorts for McCartney's flagging career. In 1982, McCartney had a number one hit, "Ebony and Ivory," with Stevie Wonder, featured on his Tug of War album, produced by George Martin. He also appeared on Michael Jackson's 1983 single, "The Girl is Mine," on Jackson's Thriller album. Jackson contributed vocals to the number one hit single "Say Say Say" on McCartney's 1983 Pipes of Peace album.

Two years later, in August 1985, Jackson paid ATV Music $40 million for the publishing rights to the 1964 - 1970 Beatles catalog, outbidding and angering McCartney. The two never recorded together again. (McCartney owns many other lucrative rights, however. In the 1970s, MPL Communications, Inc., McCartney's publishing company, purchased the entire catalog of Buddy Holly, as well as the Edwin H. Morris publishing company, thus gaining control of North American rights to musicals like Hello Dolly, Mame, A Star is Born, and others. MPL also controls two Beatles songs, "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You.")

In 1984 McCartney branched out with a directorial film debut, Give My Regards to Broad Street. Critics panned the film and its accompanying album. The album did spawn a hit single, however: "No More Lonely Nights." And McCartney, not altogether dissuaded, followed up by writing the film score for the 1985 comedy Spies Like Us.

In 1986, McCartney worked with guitarist Eric Stewart on Press to Play. Three years later, in 1989, he teamed with Elvis Costello on some tracks for Flowers in the Dirt and cowrote a few songs with Costello on the latter's Spike.

That same year, McCartney went out on his first world tour in 10 years and broke attendance records in many countries. Music from the tour can be heard on the 1990 live release Tripping the Live Fantastic.

A Classical Spin

In 1991 McCartney changed the pace with the Liverpool Oratorio, composed in collaboration with Carl Davis. Written on commission from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, the piece has been performed over 100 times in 20 countries since its premiere. The premiere was recorded live by EMI Classics and released as a double-CD album.

McCartney continued to explore other styles in 1994 when he joined forces with former Killing Joke member Youth to create ambient music. The two called themselves "Fireman" and released an album titled strawberries oceans ships forest.

In 1995, EMI released The Leaf. The Prelude composed for solo piano was inspired by McCartney's interest in classical music during the three years he was writing the Liverpool Oratorio. A young Russian pianist and gold medal winner at the Royal College of Music, Anya Alexeyev, performed it at St. James' Palace and recorded it for EMI. That same year, the Prince of Wales appointed McCartney Fellow of The Royal College of Music.

Beatles Revisited

While working with BBC producers on a Beatles documentary, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr met and began working with EMI/Capitol to produce never-before-released songs, "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love," from two John Lennon demo tapes. These songs and other unreleased Beatles demos and outtakes were released on the double-album Anthology in 1996.

In 1997 McCartney's solo release, Flaming Pie, entered the charts at No. 2 in the U.S. and U.K. and was nominated for Album of the Year Grammy in the U.S. The album, produced by Jeff Lynne, featured Steve Miller on three tracks, and McCartney's son James contributed lead guitar to songs like "Heaven on a Sunday."

Knighthood

On March 11, 1997, Queen Elizabeth II knighted McCartney. Bob Spitz of the New York Times wrote, "The promise of knighthood to the former pesky Beatle … is a delicious paradox. It was the Beatles, after all, who were anointed gurus of upheaval at a time when the collapse of the Empire was lashed to the decline of a generation's morals."

On a commission from EMI to mark its 100th anniversary, McCartney wrote the classical tone poem Standing Stone and recorded it in the Abbey Road studios with the London Symphony Orchestra. The piece premiered at Royal Albert Hall in October 1997. McCartney won the National Public Radio New Horizon Award for Standing Stone "in recognition of his work in broadening the appeal of classical music."

On April 17, 1998, Linda McCartney died from breast cancer at the family ranch in Arizona. The following year, McCartney produced an album of songs, Wild Prairie, which Linda had written and recorded. Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of the Pretenders and a close friend of the McCartney family, said (according to Business Wire), "The legacy of Paul's music and the Beatles is one thing, but I think his real legacy is the love story he had with Linda."

On March 15, 1999, McCartney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. The event also marked his first public performance since the death of his wife. McCartney continued to record new material, as well. Later that year, the album Run Devil Run collected McCartney covers of vintage rock songs by Carl Perkins, Larry Williams, and Little Richard. In October of 1999, Working Classical featured three new short orchestral pieces. A Garland for Linda, an album to commemorate the life of his late wife and raise funds for cancer research, was released in January of 2000. The album featured McCartney's original music as well as that of other contemporary composers. For 2001's Driving Rain, McCartney's son James wrote two songs and played guitar. Wingspan (Hits and History) was released the same year, encapsulating Wings' contributions to popular music.

McCartney's former Beatles bandmate, Harrison, died of throat cancer in Los Angeles, California, on November 29, 2001. On the first anniversary of his death, McCartney and Starr reunited for a musical tribute, "Concert for George," at London's Royal Albert Hall.

A New Love

In 2000, McCartney began dating Heather Mills, a former model and anti-land mine advocate. A year later, they were engaged and in June 2002, the couple wed at an Irish castle. On October 30, 2003, Mills gave birth to their daughter, Beatrice Milly. McCartney toured Europe in the spring of 2004. He also produced a DVD titled Paul McCartney: The Music and Animation Collection.

Books

Miles, Barry, Many Years From Now, Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1997.

Turner, Steve, A Hard Day's Write, Harper Perennial, 1999.

Periodicals

America's Intelligence Wire, February 27, 2004.

Associated Press, August 14, 1985.

Associated Press Newswires, July 3, 1997; April 20, 1998; June 22, 1998.

Billboard, May 15, 2004.

Buffalo News, June 14, 1998.

Business Wire, October 27, 1998.

Canadian Press, November 30, 2002.

Globe and Mail, April 7, 1979; May 22, 1979; January 26, 1980; January 28, 1980; December 10, 1980.

Herald-Sun, December 1, 2001.

Los Angeles Times, August 15, 1985.

Mirror, May 29, 2003.

New York Times, June 15, 1997.

Orange County Register, April 12, 1999.

People, March 29, 1999.

Reuters News, October 18, 1998; October 30, 2003.

Scotland on Sunday, September 28, 1997.

Seattle Times, October 15, 1997.

Times Union, March 12, 1997.

Online

"Music: Paul McCartney Forever," BBC America,http://www.bbcamerica.com (January 6, 2004).

"Paul McCartney," theiceberg.com,http://www.theiceberg.com (January 6, 2004).

"Paul McCartney," Rolling Stone,http://www.rollingstone.com (January 6, 2004).

"Paul McCartney," 46th Grammy Awards,http://www.grammy.com (January 19, 2004).

Answer of the Day:

Sir Paul McCartney

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Paul McCartney  
Paul McCartney
Will you still need me; will you still feed me when I'm 64? Sir Paul McCartney turns 64 today, some 39 years after the song he wrote with John Lennon was released on The Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The prolific musician who never learned to read music wrote or co-wrote more than 50 Top Ten singles and is the most successful pop-music composer ever.

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From our Archives: Today's Highlights, June 18, 2006

Quotes By:

Paul Mccartney

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Quotes:

"Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young."

"Love is all you need."

"Somebody said to me, But the Beatles were anti-materialistic. That's a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, Now, let's write a swimming pool."

"I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that."

AMG AllMovie Guide:

Paul McCartney

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Biography

In tandem with John Lennon, musician Paul McCartney is responsible for composing most of the songs in the nine-year history of the Beatles. While still a member of the group, McCartney wrote the score for the 1966 film The Family Way; it would be his last solo gig until the Beatles' breakup in 1970. So prolific and popular was McCartney in his post-Beatle years that it became a standard joke amongst post-postwar kids to query "You mean that Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?" Also grist for the humor mill was McCartney's incredible wealth; his legal ownership of virtually every song ever written (including such state anthems as "On Wisconsin"); and the strict vegetarian edicts of his wife and business partner Linda Eastman McCartney. Paul McCartney has also kept active in the film world, penning the theme for the 1973 James Bond flick Live And Let Die, and producing, scoring and acting in the 1984 vanity project Give My Regards to Broad Street, in which viewers were offered the unlikely premise that McCartney would face bankruptcy if he didn't locate a lost record album. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Filmography:

Paul McCartney

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The Concert For New York City

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Paul McCartney and Friends: The PETA Concert for Party Animals

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Tina Turner: Celebrate! The Best of Tina Turner

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MTV Unplugged: Superstars

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Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley

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Paul McCartney: In the World Tonight

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Music for Montserrat

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The Beatles Celebration

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Gale Musician Profiles:

Paul McCartney

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Singer, songwriter, guitarist

Paul McCartney cast an indelible imprint on the history of modern music during the 1960s as a member of rock and roll's monumental band, the Beatles. McCartney was widely accepted as a major driving force behind the Beatles and was responsible for composing an overwhelming majority of the tunes that brought the Beatles to the attention of serious music critics. In retrospective reviews of the late twentieth century, McCartney and his fellow Beatles were cited repeatedly as a cultural phenomenon. They are revered as the most successful band in the history of rock and roll, yet the foursome, which began recording in 1962, had effectively ceased all collaborations by 1970, having worked and performed actively for less than ten years. McCartney continued his songwriting and performance career as a solo artist beginning in 1970, repeatedly producing chart-topping songs as a solo artist and with the band Wings. Out of all the Beatles, McCartney had the most successful solo career.

McCartney was born James Paul McCartney in Liver-pool, England, on June 18, 1942. He was the first of two sons born to James and Mary McCartney. James McCartney was a cotton salesman by profession. Mary McCartney, a nurse, worked as a midwife until her untimely death from cancer in 1956. Paul McCartney was raised in a close-knit family environment and bonded with his parents, sibling, and also with his numerous relations. The family relocated on several occasions, always around the Liverpool area, and McCartney adapted easily. Energetic and bright, he was charismatic even as a schoolboy, attending the Stockton Woods infants school and later the prestigious Liverpool Institute on scholarship. As a youth, despite his melodic voice and natural sense of harmony, the choir at the Liverpool Cathedral rejected McCartney as a singer.

McCartney's parents were fond of music, and his father was a pianist for a local band. McCartney, in fact, taught himself to play his father's piano. The family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, were given to sing-a-longs, and McCartney enjoyed listening to records whenever possible. When his father gave him a trumpet, McCartney kept the instrument briefly before trading the horn for a guitar, and after reversing the strings to accommodate his left-handedness, McCartney taught himself to play.

The Beatles
On July 6, 1957, following a skiffle concert at St. Mary's Church in Wooton, McCartney met a precocious 16-year-old performer named John Lennon. Skiffle, in England, was an awkward precursor to rock and roll, and Lennon's skiffle group at the time was called the Quarrymen. McCartney and Lennon bonded instantly. McCartney joined Lennon's group, and the evolution of the Beatles was underway. In 1960, the Quarrymen—including guitarist George Harrison—moved to Hamburg, Germany, where they billed themselves as the Silver Beatles and worked in beer cellars. Ultimately they returned to the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where they added a new drummer, Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey, and billed themselves as the Beatles.

Popular music by that time had evolved solidly into rock and roll, and the Beatles changed styles with the times. In 1962 the Beatles cut their first record, a simple and rhythmic song called "Love Me Do" written by McCartney and Lennon. "Love Me Do," met with sufficient success to justify the release of a follow-up single in January of 1963 called "Please Please Me." The song, also an original composition by McCartney and Lennon, became a number one hit in Britain. The popularity of the Beatles had escalated to unprecedented proportion in England by the end of that summer. By the end of that year the Beatles had placed 29 hit records on the United States charts, many of which featured McCartney's smooth lead vocals.

So great was the combined persona of the four musicians that by 1965, they had starred in two feature length films playing only themselves. Coincidentally, the songwriting efforts of McCartney and Lennon matured, and with the release of two hit albums that year, Help and Rubber Soul, the Beatles earned the respect of serious critics and musicians. In recognition of the Beatles' popularity, in 1965, McCartney and the other Beatles were made members of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England. In 1966, the Beatles ceased personal appearances, ending with a final concert in San Francisco. Thereafter they concentrated their musical efforts largely in the Abbey Lane sound studio in England where they experimented continually with new types of music for the duration of the 1960s and proved repeatedly that they were the most popular band in the history of rock and roll.

As the 1960s drew to a close, the exceptionally cohesive synergy that had served to define the Beatles had worn thin. Each of the four had married, including McCartney, who wed photographer Linda Eastman in London on March 12, 1969. The following year McCartney took the initiative to dissolve the Beatles and release a solo debut album around that same time, called simply McCartney. In 1971, with all legal issues resolved, the Beatles ceased to exist, and the books were closed on one of the epic chapters of modern music. Time's Kurt Loder noted in retrospect that the Beatles were, "the most fabulously successful band of all time," having sold more than 100 million recordings at the time of the breakup. McCartney by then was a multimillionaire and not yet 30 years old.

Ex-Beatle
After the Beatles disbanded, McCartney settled into a countryside retreat in Sussex, England, and devoted himself largely to his new family. At his new home, McCartney recorded his second solo album with the help of Linda. Ram was released in 1971 and later that year, McCartney gathered a group of musicians and he and Linda formed the band Wings. The new outfit released their first album, Wild Life, in late 1971. In 1972, traveling in a van, McCartney and Wings went on a small tour of the United Kingdom to play small venues and universities. McCartney and Wings released Red Rose Speedway in the spring of 1973, which launched international success with the ballad "My Love," and the band's first large tour of the United Kingdom. That same year, Wings recorded the title song for the James Bond film Live and Let Die, which became a top ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic. In late 1973, Wings finally got unanimously positive press when they scored a hit with the album Band on the Run. The title song and singles like "Jet" and "Bluebird" put the record at the top of the charts.

Wings Kept Him on Top of the Charts
Wings albums that followed, such as 1976's At the Speed of Sound and 1978's London Town, kept McCartney's songwriting at the top of the charts world-wide in the 1970s, just as he had in the 1960s with the Beatles. At the beginning of a Wings' Japanese tour for London Town, McCartney was arrested for marijuana possession and spent 10 days in jail before being released without any formal charges. After numerous line-up changes, and the release of McCartney's 1980 solo album McCartney II (on which he played every single instrument himself), Wings disbanded. Though McCartney had been part of two successful bands, he wanted to return to being a solo artist.

In 1982, McCartney had two hit singles on the radio: first was "Ebony and Ivory," a duet with Stevie Wonder from McCartney's George Martin-produced album Tug of War; the second was another duet, "The Girl is Mine" with Michael Jackson off Jackson's Thriller album. The next year, he had yet another popular duet with Jackson on the radio, the song "Say Say Say" from McCartney's 1983 record Pipes of Peace.

No stranger to the film world, in 1984, McCartney wrote and appeared in Give My Regards to Broad Street; Ringo Starr and Linda McCartney also appeared. While the movie went nowhere, its soundtrack spawned the hit song "No More Lonely Nights." McCartney wrote yet another movie theme song the next year, this time for the Dan Akroyd/Chevy Chase comedy Spies Like Us.

McCartney consistently continued to release solo albums in the 1980s like Press to Play (1986) and Flowers in the Dirt (1989). Many of the songs on Flowers in the Dirt were co-written with singer-songwriter Elvis Costello. The team also penned a few songs for Costello's Spike album that same year, including the hit"Veronica." The tour for Flowers resulted in the live album Tripping the Live Fantastic, the beginning of a string of live solo albums including an infamous MTV Unplugged album in 1991. McCartney soon delved into a career making classical music. His Liverpool Oratorio of 1991 was produced by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa singing soprano and Jerry Hadley as tenor. Curiously, in 1994, McCartney made a an ambient dance record under the name the Fireman.

McCartney and his wife spent much of the 1980s and 1990s involved in social activism and charitable causes; adamant vegetarians, they were most well-known for animal rights, speaking for PETA and other organizations. In the late 1980s he initiated the establishment of the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts in the renovated structure of the Liverpool Institute where he had attended school. After six years of fundraising, restoration, and planning, the new school opened in 1995. In recognition of his exceptional life, on March 11, 1997, the Queen dubbed McCartney a Knight of the British Empire, and thus he became Sir Paul McCartney. In the same year, he released Flaming Pie, which echoed back to classic McCartney pop. Time magazine's Christopher John Farley called Flaming Pie "a relaxed, easygoing album."

On April 17, 1998, McCartney's life changed forever when his wife Linda died from breast cancer. He stayed out of the spotlight for some time following her death. In 1999, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a ceremony. After a period, McCartney returned to what he does best: recording. In 1999 he released the pop album Run Devil Run and the classical album Working Classical. The next year he put out the unusual electronica album Liverpool Sound Collage, around the same time the first official Beatles biography, The Beatles Anthology, was published. He soon returned to the studio to record his first album of all new songs since Flaming Pie. Just before he released the new record, Driving Rain, McCartney released Blackbird Singing, a book of poetry and song lyrics.

In June of 2002, McCartney married anti-landmines activist Heather Mills. On October 28, 2003 the couple welcomed their first child together, Beatrice Milly. McCartney and Mills later divorced in 2006. In February of 2005, McCartney performed during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX. Seven months later, he released the new album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. Produced by longtime Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich, the album was a return to form for McCartney, who played almost every single instrument on the record. Time magazine's Josh Tyrangiel called the album, "… adventurous, melodic and emotionally complicated—the first album in his post-Fab Four catalog that really matters."

Chaos gave McCartney some of his best reviews in over a decade; many critics compared the new songs to some of the best Beatles tunes, or early solo McCartney albums. People noted that McCartney's voice sounded better than ever, "unscarred by time, yet more resonant than ever, that is the standout instrument." Shortly after Chaos, McCartney released the children's book High in the Clouds. In February of 2006, McCartney performed at the Grammy Awards where he was nominated for three awards. He played two songs with his band and then returned toward the end of the show to perform with hip-hop star Jay-Z and rock band Linkin Park for an unforgettable collaboration.

Selected discography

Solo and with Wings
McCartney, Capitol, 1970.Ram, Capitol, 1971.Wild Life, Capitol, 1973.Red Rose Speedway, Apple, 1973.Band on the Run, Apple, 1973; remastered and bonus CD, Capitol, 1999.Venus and Mars, Capitol, 1973.Wings at the Speed of Sound, Capitol, 1976.Wings over America, Capitol, 1976.London Town, Capitol, 1978.Wings Greatest Hits, Capitol, 1978.Back to the Egg, Capitol, 1979.McCartney II, Capitol, 1980.Tug of War, Capitol, 1982.Pipes of Peace, Capitol, 1983.Give My Regards to Broad Street, Columbia, 1984.Press To Play, Capitol, 1986.All the Best, Capitol, 1987.Flowers in the Dirt, Capitol, 1989.Tripping the Live Fantastic, Capitol, 1990.(Composer) Liverpool Oratorio, Angel, 1991.Off the Ground, Capitol, 1993.Paul Is Live, Capitol, 1993.Flaming Pie, MPL, 1997.(Composer) Standing Stone, Angel, 1997.(With others) Run Devil Run, Capitol, 1999.Working Classical: Orchestral and Chamber Music by Paul McCartney, Angel, 1999.Liverpool Sound Collage, Capitol, 2000.Driving Rain, Capitol, 2001.Wingspan: Hits and History, Capitol, 2001.Back in the U.S., Capitol, 2002.Back in the World, MPL Communications, 2003.Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Capitol, 2005.
With the Beatles
Introducing … the Beatles,Vee Jay, 1963.Meet the Beatles, Capitol, 1964.The Beatles' Second Album, Capitol, 1964.A Hard Day's Night, United Artists (U.S.), 1964; Capitol (U.K.), 1964.Something New, Capitol, 1964.Beatles for Sale, Capitol, 1964.The Beatles' Story, Capitol, 1964.Beatles VI, Capitol, 1964.Beatles '65, Capitol, 1965.The Early Beatles, Capitol, 1965.Help, Capitol, 1965.Rubber Soul, Capitol, 1965.Yesterday … and Today, Capitol, 1966.Revolver, Capitol, 1966.This Is Where It Started, Metro, 1966.Amazing Beatles and Other Great English Group Sounds, Clarion, 1966.Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Capitol, 1967.Magical Mystery Tour, Capitol, 1967.The Beatles (White Album), Apple, 1968.Yellow Submarine, Apple, 1969.Abbey Road, Apple, 1969.Hey Jude, Apple, 1970.Tony Sheridan and the Beatles, Polydor, 1970.Let It Be, Apple, 1970.In the Beginning: The Early Tapes, Polydor, 1970.The Beatles 1962–1966, Apple, 1973.The Beatles 1967–1970, Apple, 1973.Rock 'n' Roll Music, Capitol, 1976.The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, Capitol, 1976.The Beatles Live! At the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany: 1962, Lingasong, 1977; re-released as The Beatles: 1962 Live at the Star Club in Hamburg, Walters, 2000.Love Songs, Capitol, 1977.Rarities, Capitol, 1979.The Decca Tapes, Circuit, 1979.Rock 'n' Roll Music, Volume II, Capitol, 1980.Reel Music, Capitol, 1982.Twenty Greatest Hits, Capitol, 1982.

Sources
Books
Coleman, Ray, McCartney: Yesterday and Today, Dove Books, 1996.
Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd edition, Gale Research, 1998.

Periodicals
Billboard, November 3, 1997, p. 119; November 8, 1997, p. 62; June 10, 2000, p. 57.
Entertainment Weekly, March 17, 2000, p. 76.
People, May 4, 1998, p. 98; May 31, 1999, p. 63; April 3, 2000, p. 106; September 26, 2005.
Rolling Stone, February 4, 1999, p. 27.
Time, June 8, 1998, p. 144; June 9, 1997; September 12, 2005, p. 93.

Online
Contemporary Authors Online, http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC (March 24, 2004).
MPL Communications, http://www.mplcommunications.com/mccartney/index.htm (February 24, 2006).
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, http://www.grammy.com (February 24, 2006).
"Paul McCartney," All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (January 29, 2001, February 24, 2006).
  • Genres: Rock

Biography

Out of all the former Beatles, Paul McCartney by far had the most successful solo career, maintaining a constant presence in the British and American charts during the '70s and '80s. In America alone, he had nine number one singles and seven number one albums during the first 12 years of his solo career. Although he sold records, McCartney never attained much critical respect, especially when compared to his former partner, John Lennon. Then again, he pursued a different path than Lennon, deciding early on that he wanted to be in a rock band. Little more than a year after the Beatles' breakup, McCartney had formed Wings with his wife, Linda, and the group remained active for the next ten years, racking up a string of hit albums, singles, and tours in the meantime. By the late '70s, many critics were taking potshots at McCartney's effortlessly melodic songcraft, but that didn't stop the public from buying his records. His sales didn't slow considerably until the late '80s, and he retaliated with his first full-scale tour since the '70s, which was a considerable success. During the '90s, McCartney recorded less frequently, concentrating on projects like his first classical recording, a techno album, and the Beatles' Anthology.

Like Lennon and George Harrison, McCartney began exploring creative avenues outside the Beatles during the late '60s, but where his bandmates released their own experimental records, McCartney confined himself to writing and production for other artists, with the exception of his 1966 soundtrack to The Family Way. Following his marriage to Linda Eastman on March 12, 1969, McCartney began working at his home studio on his first solo album. He released the record, McCartney, in April 1970, two weeks before the Beatles' Let It Be was scheduled to hit the stores. Prior to the album's release, he announced that the Beatles were breaking up, which was against the wishes of the other members. As a result, the tensions between him and the other three members, particularly Harrison and Lennon, increased and he earned the ill will of many critics. Nevertheless, McCartney became a hit, spending three weeks at the top of the American charts. Early in 1971, he returned with "Another Day," which became his first hit single as a solo artist. It was followed several months later by Ram, another homemade collection, this time featuring the contributions of his wife, Linda.

By the end of 1971, the McCartneys had formed Wings, which was intended to be a full-fledged recording and touring band. Former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell became the group's other members, and Wings released their first album, Wild Life, in December 1971. Wild Life was greeted with poor reviews and was a relative flop. McCartney and Wings, which now featured former Grease Band guitarist Henry McCullough, spent 1972 as a working band, releasing three singles -- the protest "Give Ireland Back to the Irish," the reggae-fied "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and the rocking "Hi Hi Hi." Red Rose Speedway followed in the spring of 1973, and while it received weak reviews, it became his second American number one album. Later in 1973, Wings embarked on their first British tour, at the conclusion of which McCullough and Seiwell left the band. Prior to their departure, McCartney's theme to the James Bond movie Live and Let Die became a Top Ten hit in the U.S. and U.K. That summer, the remaining Wings proceeded to record a new album in Nigeria. Released late in 1973, Band on the Run was simultaneously McCartney's best-reviewed album and his most successful, spending four weeks at the top of the U.S. charts and eventually going triple platinum.

Following the success of Band on the Run, McCartney formed a new version of Wings with guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton. The new lineup was showcased on the 1974 British single "Junior's Farm" and the 1975 hit album Venus and Mars. At the Speed of Sound followed in 1976, and it was the first Wings record to feature songwriting contributions by the other bandmembers. Nevertheless, the album became a monster success on the basis of two McCartney songs, "Silly Love Songs" and "Let 'Em In." Wings supported the album with their first international tour, which broke many attendance records and was captured on the live triple album Wings Over America (1976). After the tour was completed, Wings rested a bit during 1977, as McCartney released an instrumental version of Ram under the name Thrillington and produced Denny Laine's solo album Holly Days. Later that year, Wings released "Mull of Kintyre," which became the biggest-selling British single of all time, selling over two million copies. Wings followed "Mull of Kintyre" with London Town in 1978, which became another platinum record. After its release, McCulloch left the band to join the re-formed Small Faces and Wings released Back to the Egg in 1979. Though the record went platinum, it failed to produce any big hits. Early in 1980, McCartney was arrested for marijuana possession at the beginning of a Japanese tour; he was imprisoned for ten days and then released, without any charges being pressed.

Wings effectively broke up in the wake of McCartney's Japanese bust, although its official dissolution was not announced until April 27, 1981, when Denny Laine left the band. Back in England, McCartney recorded McCartney II, which was a one-man band effort like his solo debut. Ironically, the hit single associated with the album was a live take of the song "Coming Up" that had been recorded in Glasgow with Wings in December 1979 and was intended to be the B-side of the 45, with the solo studio recording as the A-side. DJs preferred the live version, however, and it went on to hit number one. Later in 1980, McCartney entered the studio with Beatles' producer George Martin to make Tug of War.

Released in the spring of 1982, Tug of War received the best reviews of any McCartney record since Band on the Run and spawned the number one single with "Ebony and Ivory," a duet with Stevie Wonder that became McCartney's biggest American hit. In 1983, McCartney sang on "The Girl Is Mine," the first single from Michael Jackson's blockbuster album Thriller. In return, Jackson dueted with McCartney on "Say Say Say," the first single from McCartney's 1983 album Pipes of Peace and the last number one single of his career. The relationship between Jackson and McCartney soured considerably when Jackson bought the publishing rights to the Beatles' songs from underneath McCartney in 1985.

McCartney directed his first feature film in 1984 with Give My Regards to Broad Street. While the soundtrack, which featured new songs and re-recorded Beatles tunes, was a hit, generating the hit single "No More Lonely Nights," the film was a flop, earning terrible reviews. The following year, he had his last American Top Ten with the theme to the Chevy Chase/Dan Aykroyd comedy Spies Like Us. Press to Play (1986) received some strong reviews but the album was a flop. In 1988, he recorded a collection of rock & roll oldies called Choba B CCCP for release in the U.S.S.R.; it was given official release in the U.S. and U.K. in 1991. For 1989's Flowers in the Dirt, McCartney co-wrote several songs with Elvis Costello; the pair also wrote songs for Costello's Spike, including the hit "Veronica." Flowers in the Dirt received the strongest reviews of any McCartney release since Tug of War, and was supported by an extensive international tour, which was captured on the live double album Tripping the Live Fantastic (1990). For the tour, McCartney hired guitarist Robbie McIntosh and bassist Hamish Stuart, who would form the core of his band through the remainder of the '90s.

Early in 1991, McCartney released another live album in the form of Unplugged, which was taken from his appearance on MTV's acoustic concert program of the same name; it was the first Unplugged album to be released. Later that year, he unveiled Liverpool Oratorio, his first classical work. Another pop album, Off the Ground, followed in 1993, but the album failed to generate any big hits, despite McCartney's successful supporting tour. Following the completion of the New World tour, he released another live album, Paul Is Live, in December 1993. In 1994, he released an ambient techno album under the pseudonym the Fireman. McCartney premiered his second classical piece, The Leaf, early in 1995 and then began hosting a Westwood One radio series called Oobu Joobu. But his primary activity in 1995, as well as 1996, was the Beatles' Anthology, which encompassed a lengthy video documentary of the band and the multi-volume release of Beatles' outtakes and rarities. After Anthology was completed, he released Flaming Pie in summer 1997. A low-key, largely acoustic affair that had the some of the same charm of his debut, Flaming Pie was given the strongest reviews McCartney had received in years and was a modest commercial success, debuting at number two on the U.S. and U.K. charts; it was his highest American chart placing since he left the Beatles. Flaming Pie certainly benefited from the success of Anthology, as did McCartney himself -- only a few months before the release of the album in 1997, he received a Knighthood.

On April 17, 1998, Linda McCartney died after a three-year struggle with breast cancer. A grieving Paul kept a low profile in the months to follow, but finally returned in fall 1999 with Run Devil Run, a collection primarily including cover songs. The electronica-based Liverpool Sound Collage followed a year later, and the pop album Driving Rain -- a successor, of sorts, to Flaming Pie -- came a year after that. The live album Back in the U.S. appeared in America in 2002 with the slightly different international edition, Back in the World, following soon after. McCartney's next studio project included sessions with super-producer Nigel Godrich, the results of which appeared on the mellow Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard, released in late 2005. McCartney performed every instrument (not including the strings) on 2007's David Kahne-produced Memory Almost Full, a bold but whimsical collection of new songs, some of which were recorded before the Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard sessions. A live CD/DVD set, Good Evening New York City, appeared in 2009. The following year, McCartney kicked off an extensive reissue campaign with a box set of Band On The Run and he supported the reissue with an American tour in the summer of 2011. That fall, McCartney released his first ballet, Ocean's Kingdom. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & William Ruhlmann, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Paul McCartney

Top
Paul McCartney
Black-and-white image of McCartney, in his sixties, holding an electric bass. He wears a black buttoned-up suit jacket with black pants.
McCartney with his Höfner bass on stage in England in 2010
Background information
Birth name James Paul McCartney
Born 18 June 1942 (1942-06-18) (age 69)
Liverpool, England, UK
Genres Rock, pop, psychedelic rock, experimental rock, hard rock, rock and roll, classical music
Occupations Musician, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, film producer, painter, activist, businessman
Instruments Vocals, bass guitar, guitar, piano, organ, mellotron, keyboards, drums, ukulele, mandolin, recorder
Years active 1957–present
Labels Hear, Apple, Parlophone, Capitol, Columbia, Concord, EMI, One Little Indian, Vee-Jay
Associated acts The Quarrymen, The Beatles, Wings, The Fireman, Linda McCartney, John Lennon, Denny Laine
Website www.paulmccartney.com
Notable instruments
Höfner 500/1
Rickenbacker 4001S
Gibson Les Paul
Epiphone Texan
Epiphone Casino
Fender Esquire
Fender Jazz Bass
Yamaha BB1200 Bass
Wal 5-String Bass
Martin D-28

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles in the United Kingdom alone.[1]

McCartney gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and wrote some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music.[2] After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine.

BBC News Online readers named McCartney the "greatest composer of the millennium". According to the BBC, his Beatles song "Yesterday" has been covered by over 2,200 artists — more than any other song in the history of recorded music.[3] Since its 1965 release it has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio.[4] Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the United Kingdom and remains the UK's top selling non-charity single.[5] Based on the 93 weeks his compositions have spent at the top spot of the UK chart, and 24 number one singles to his credit, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in UK singles chart history.[6] As a performer or songwriter, McCartney was responsible for 31 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States,[7][8][9][10] and has sold 15.5 million RIAA certified albums in the United States alone.[11]

McCartney has composed film scores, classical and electronic music, released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist, and has taken part in projects to help international charities. He is an advocate for animal rights, for vegetarianism, and for music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt. He is a keen football fan, supporting both Everton and Liverpool football clubs. His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs,[12] including all songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, and Grease. McCartney is one of the UK's wealthiest people, with an estimated fortune of £475 million in 2010.[13]

Contents

Childhood

McCartney was born in Walton Hospital in Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary (née Mohin), had worked as a nurse in the maternity ward.[14] He has one brother, Michael, born 7 January 1944.[15] McCartney was baptised as a Roman Catholic but was raised non-denominationally: his mother was Roman Catholic and his father James, or "Jim" McCartney, was a Protestant turned agnostic.[15]

In 1947, he began attending Stockton Wood Road Primary School. He then attended the Joseph Williams Junior School[16] and passed the 11-plus exam in 1953 with three others out of the 90 examinees, thus gaining admission to the Liverpool Institute.[17] In 1954, while taking the bus from his home in the suburb of Speke to the Institute, he met George Harrison, who lived nearby.[18] Passing the exam meant that McCartney and Harrison could go to a grammar school rather than a secondary modern school, which the majority of pupils attended until they were eligible to work, but as grammar school pupils, they had to find new friends.[19]

Exterior of a two-story brick building, with a hedge in front of it. Six windows are visible, three on each level, as are two doorways on the lower level.
20 Forthlin Road now attracts large numbers of tourists.

In 1955, the McCartney family moved to 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton.[20] Mary McCartney rode a bicycle to houses where she was needed as a midwife, and an early McCartney memory is of her leaving when it was snowing heavily.[21] On 31 October 1956, Mary McCartney died of an embolism after a mastectomy operation to stop the spread of her breast cancer.[22] The early loss of his mother later connected McCartney with John Lennon, whose mother Julia died after being struck by a car when Lennon was 17.[23]

McCartney's father was a trumpet player and pianist who had led Jim Mac's Jazz Band in the 1920s and encouraged his two sons to be musical.[24] Jim had an upright piano in the front room that he had bought from Epstein's North End Music Stores. McCartney's grandfather, Joe McCartney, played an E-flat tuba.[25][26] Jim McCartney used to point out the different instruments in songs on the radio, and often took McCartney to local brass band concerts.[26] McCartney's father gave him a nickel-plated trumpet, but when skiffle music became popular, McCartney swapped the trumpet for a £15 Framus Zenith (model 17) acoustic guitar.[27][28] As he was left-handed, McCartney found right-handed guitars difficult to play, but when he saw a poster advertising a Slim Whitman concert, he realised that Whitman played left-handed with his guitar strung the opposite way to a right-handed player.[28][29] McCartney wrote his first song ("I Lost My Little Girl") on the Zenith, and also played his father's Framus Spanish guitar when writing early songs with Lennon.[30] He later learned to play the piano and wrote his second song, "When I'm Sixty-Four".[31] On his father's advice, he took music lessons, but since he preferred to learn 'by ear' he never paid much attention to them.[31]

McCartney was heavily influenced by American Rhythm and Blues music. He has stated that Little Richard was his idol when he was in school and that the first song he ever sang in public was "Long Tall Sally", at a Butlins holiday camp talent competition.[32]

Musical career

1957–1960

At the age of 15, McCartney met John Lennon and The Quarrymen at the St. Peter's Church Hall fête in Woolton on 6 July 1957.[33] He formed a close working relationship with Lennon and they collaborated writing many songs. Harrison joined the group in early 1958 as lead guitarist, followed in early 1960 by Lennon's art school friend, Stuart Sutcliffe on bass.[34][35] By May 1960, they had tried several new names, including "Johnny and the Moondogs" and "The Silver Beetles", playing a tour of Scotland under that name with Johnny Gentle. They finally changed the name of the group to "The Beatles" in mid-August 1960 and recruited Pete Best at short notice to become their drummer for an imminent engagement in Hamburg.[36][37]

1960–1970: The Beatles

A black-and-white image of three men playing guitar. They are wearing grey buttoned-up suit jackets with ties underneath. An audience is visible behind them on the left.
McCartney (left) in 1964 with Beatles bandmates George Harrison and John Lennon

From August 1960, The Beatles were booked by Allan Williams,[38] to perform at a club in Hamburg.[39] During extended stays over the next two years, The Beatles performed as a resident group in a number of Hamburg clubs. On returns to Liverpool they played at the Cavern club. Prior to the end of the residency, Sutcliffe left the band, so McCartney, reluctantly, became The Beatles' bass player.[40] The Beatles recorded their first published musical material in Hamburg, performing as the backing group for Tony Sheridan on the single "My Bonnie".[41] This recording later brought the Beatles to the attention of a key figure in their subsequent development and commercial success, Brian Epstein, who became their next manager.[42] Epstein eventually negotiated a record contract for the group with Parlophone in May 1962.[43] After replacing Best with Ringo Starr on drums, The Beatles became popular in the UK in 1963 and in the US in 1964. In 1965, they were each appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).[44] After performing concerts, plays, and tours almost non-stop for a period of nearly four years, and giving more than one thousand four hundred live performances internationally,[45] The Beatles gave their last commercial concert at the end of their 1966 US tour.[46] They continued to work in the recording studio from 1966 until their break-up in 1970. In the eight years from 1962 to 1970, the group had released twenty-four UK singles and twelve studio albums, often released in different configurations in the USA and other countries (see discography). In late 1966, there was a hoax called "Paul is dead" saying that McCartney had died in a car crash. The hoax was proven false in 1969 when the front cover of a magazine said "Paul is Still With Us."

Since 1970

Coloured image of a long-haired McCartney in the 1970s playing a guitar.
McCartney during a Wings concert, 1976

After the break-up of The Beatles, McCartney continued his musical career, in solo work as well as in collaborations with other musicians. After releasing his solo album McCartney in 1970, he worked with Linda McCartney to record the album Ram in 1971. Later the same year, the pair were joined by guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell to form the group Wings, which was active between 1971 and 1981 and released numerous successful singles and albums (see Wings discography). McCartney also collaborated with a number of other popular artists including Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Eric Stewart, and Elvis Costello. In 1985, McCartney played "Let It Be" at the Live Aid concert in London, backed by Bob Geldof, Pete Townshend, David Bowie, and Alison Moyet.

Initially Australia was to be included in the 1989 world tour but McCartney decided to play extra shows in America. On the 1993 (New World Tour), McCartney toured Australia extensively; this was his third and most recent tour of Australia. A proposed further tour to Australia in 2002 was cancelled after the Bali Bombings claiming that touring after the bombings would be insensitive.[47]

In 1989, he joined forces with fellow Merseysiders including Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers and Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood to record a new version of Ferry Cross the Mersey (originally recorded 25 years earlier by Gerry and the Pacemakers) to generate money for the appeal fund of the Hillsborough disaster, which occurred on 15 April that year and in which 96 Liverpool F.C. fans died as a result of their injuries.[48]

The 1990s saw McCartney venture into orchestral music, and in 1991 the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commissioned a musical piece by McCartney to celebrate its sesquicentennial.[49]

He collaborated with Carl Davis to release Liverpool Oratorio;[50] involving the opera singers Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sally Burgess,[51] Jerry Hadley and Willard White, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir of Liverpool Cathedral.[52] The Prince of Wales later honoured McCartney as a Fellow of The Royal College of Music[53] and Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (2008). Other forays into classical music included Standing Stone (1997), Working Classical (1999), Ecce Cor Meum (2006), and "Ocean's Kingdom" (2011). It was announced in the 1997 New Year Honours that McCartney was to be knighted for services to music,[54] becoming Sir Paul McCartney.[55] In 1999, McCartney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and in May 2000, he was awarded a Fellowship by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. The 1990s also saw McCartney, Harrison, and Starr working together on Apple's The Beatles Anthology documentary series.

Having witnessed the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks from the JFK airport tarmac,[56][57] McCartney took a lead role in organising The Concert for New York City. In November 2002, on the first anniversary of George Harrison's death, McCartney performed at the Concert for George.[58] He has also participated in the National Football League's Super Bowl, performing in the pre-game show for Super Bowl XXXVI and headlining the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX.

McCartney and Ringo Starr promoting The Beatles: Rock Band in 2009.
A man in his sixties, wearing a white shirt and black suspenders during a concert, playing a bass guitar.
McCartney performing in Dublin, Ireland, on 12 June 2010

McCartney has continued to work in the realms of popular and classical music, touring the world and performing at a large number of concerts and events; on more than one occasion he has performed again with Ringo Starr. In 2008, he received a BRIT award for Outstanding Contribution to Music[59] and an honorary degree, Doctor of Music, from Yale University.[60] The same year, he performed at a concert in Liverpool to celebrate the city's year as European Capital of Culture.[61] In 2009, he received two nominations for the 51st annual Grammy awards, while in October of the same year he was named songwriter of the year at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Awards. On 15 July 2009, more than 45 years after The Beatles first appeared on American television on The Ed Sullivan Show, McCartney returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater to perform on Late Show with David Letterman.[62] McCartney was portrayed in the 2009 film Nowhere Boy, about Lennon's teenage years, by Thomas Sangster.

On 2 June 2010, McCartney was honoured by Barack Obama with the Gershwin Prize for his contributions to popular music in a live show for the White House with performances by Stevie Wonder, Lang Lang and many others.[63]

McCartney's enduring popularity has helped him schedule performances in new venues. He played three sold out concerts at newly-built Citi Field in Queens, New York (built to replace the iconic Shea Stadium) on 17, 18, and 21 July 2009. On 27 June 2010, McCartney did a benefit concert at Hyde Park for the Born HIV Free foundation. On 18 August 2010, McCartney opened the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[64] On 15-16 July 2011, McCartney performed the first concerts at the new Yankee Stadium.

McCartney has been touring since 2001 with guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, Paul "Wix" Wickens on keyboards and drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr.

There are plans for an upcoming Paul McCartney tribute album with recordings of McCartney songs by Kiss, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, B.B. King and others.[65]

Paul McCartney will be honoured as MusiCares Person of the Year on 10 February 2012, two days prior to the 54th Grammy Awards.[66]

Kisses on the Bottom, a collection of standards, was released on 7 February 2012.[67]

Creative outlets

During the 1960s, McCartney was often seen at major cultural events, such as the launch party for the International Times and at The Roundhouse (28 January and 4 February 1967 respectively).[68] He also delved into the visual arts, becoming a close friend of leading art dealers and gallery owners, explored experimental film, and regularly attended movie, theatrical and classical music performances. His first contact with the London avant-garde scene was through John Dunbar, who introduced him to the art dealer Robert Fraser, who in turn introduced McCartney to an array of writers and artists. McCartney later became involved in the renovation and publicising of the Indica Gallery in Mason's Yard, London — John Lennon first met Yoko Ono at the Indica.[69][70] The Indica Gallery brought McCartney into contact with Barry Miles, whose underground newspaper, the International Times, McCartney helped to start.[71] Miles would become de facto manager of the Apple's short-lived Zapple Records label, and wrote McCartney's official biography, Many Years From Now (1997).

While living at the Asher house,[72] McCartney took piano lessons at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which The Beatles' producer Martin had previously attended.[73][74] McCartney studied composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luciano Berio.[75] McCartney later wrote and released several pieces of modern classical music and ambient electronica, besides writing poetry and painting. McCartney is lead patron of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, an arts school in the building formerly occupied by the Liverpool Institute for Boys.[76] The 1837 building, which McCartney attended during his schooldays, had become derelict by the mid-1980s.[76] On 7 June 1996, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the redeveloped building.[76]

Electronic music

After the recording of "Yesterday" in 1965, McCartney contacted the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in Maida Vale, London, to see if they could record an electronic version of the song, but never followed it up.[77] When visiting John Dunbar's flat in London, McCartney would take along tapes he had compiled at Jane Asher's house.[78] The tapes were mixes of various songs, musical pieces and comments made by McCartney that he had Dick James make into a demo record for him.[79] Heavily influenced by John Cage, he made tape loops by recording voices, guitars, and bongoes on a Brenell tape recorder, and splicing the various loops together. He reversed the tapes, sped them up, and slowed them down to create the effects he wanted, some of which were later used on Beatles' recordings, such as "Tomorrow Never Knows". McCartney referred to the tapes as "electronic symphonies".[80]

In the spring of 1966 McCartney rented a ground floor and basement flat from Ringo Starr at 34 Montagu Square, to be used as a small demo studio for spoken-word recordings by poets, writers (including William S. Burroughs) and avant-garde musicians.[81] The Beatles' Apple Records then launched a sub-label, Zapple with Miles as its manager, ostensibly to release recordings of a similar aesthetic, although few releases would ultimately result as Apple and The Beatles slid into business and personal difficulties.[81]

In 1995, McCartney recorded a radio series called "Oobu Joobu"[82] for the American network Westwood One, which he described as being "wide-screen radio".[83] During the 1990s, McCartney collaborated with Youth of Killing Joke under the name The Fireman,[84] and released two ambient electronic albums: Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (1993) and Rushes (1998). In 2000, he released an album titled Liverpool Sound Collage[85] with Super Furry Animals and Youth, utilising the sound collage and musique concrète techniques that fascinated him in the mid-1960s. In 2005, he worked on a project with bootleg producer and remixer Freelance Hellraiser, consisting of remixed versions of songs from throughout his solo career which were released under the title Twin Freaks.[86] The Fireman's third album Electric Arguments was released on 25 November 2008. Unlike the first two Fireman albums, this one was more song-based in its structure. McCartney told L.A. Weekly in a January 2009, "Fireman is improvisational theatre ... I formalise it a bit to get it into the studio, and when I step up to a microphone, I have a vague idea of what I’m about to do. I usually have a song, and I know the melody and lyrics, and my performance is the only unknown."[87]

Film

McCartney was interested in animated films as a child, and later had the financial resources to ask Geoff Dunbar to direct a short animated film called Rupert and the Frog Song, in 1981. McCartney was the producer, he wrote the music and the script, and also added some of the character voices.[88] McCartney wrote and starred in the 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street. The film and soundtrack featured the popular hit "No More Lonely Nights", and the album reached No.1 in the UK, but the film did not do well commercially or critically.[89] Roger Ebert awarded the film a single star and wrote, "You can safely skip the movie and proceed directly to the sound track."[90] Dunbar worked again with McCartney on an animated film about the work of French artist Honoré Daumier, in 1992, which won both of them a Bafta award.[91] They also worked on Tropic Island Hum, in 1997.[92] In 1995, McCartney made a guest appearance in the "Lisa the Vegetarian", an episode of The Simpsons, and directed a short documentary about The Grateful Dead.[93][94]

In May 2000, McCartney released Wingspan: An Intimate Portrait, a retrospective documentary that features behind-the-scenes films and photographs that Paul and Linda McCartney (who had died in 1998) took of their family and bands.[95] Interspersed throughout the 88 minute film is an interview by Mary McCartney with her father. Mary was the baby photographed inside McCartney's jacket on the back cover of his first solo album, McCartney, and was one of the producers of the documentary.[96]

Painting

In 1966, McCartney met art gallery-owner Robert Fraser, whose flat was visited by many well-known artists.[97] McCartney met Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Peter Blake, and Richard Hamilton there, and learned about art appreciation.[97] McCartney later started buying paintings by Magritte, and used Magritte's painting of an apple for the Apple Records logo.[98] He now owns Magritte's easel and spectacles.[99]

McCartney's love of painting surfaced after watching artist Willem de Kooning paint, in Kooning's Long Island studio.[100] McCartney took up painting in 1983.[101] In 1999, he exhibited his paintings (featuring McCartney's portraits of John Lennon, Andy Warhol, and David Bowie) for the first time in Siegen, Germany, and included photographs by Linda. He chose the gallery because Wolfgang Suttner (local events organiser) was genuinely interested in his art, and the positive reaction led to McCartney showing his work in UK galleries.[102] The first UK exhibition of McCartney's work was opened in Bristol, England with more than 50 paintings on display. McCartney had previously believed that "only people that had been to art school were allowed to paint" – as Lennon had.[102]

In October 2000, Yoko Ono and McCartney presented art exhibitions in New York and London. McCartney said, "I've been offered an exhibition of my paintings at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool where John and I used to spend many a pleasant afternoon. So I'm really excited about it. I didn't tell anybody I painted for 15 years but now I'm out of the closet."[103][104]

As an artist, Paul McCartney designed a series of six postage stamps issued by the Isle of Man Post on 1 July 2002. According to BBC News, McCartney seems to be the first major rock star in the world who is also known as a stamp designer.[105]

Writing and poetry

When McCartney was young, his mother read him poems and encouraged him to read books. McCartney's father was interested in crosswords and invited the two young McCartneys (Paul and his brother Michael) to solve them with him, so as to increase their "word power".[106] McCartney was later inspired – in his school years – by Alan Durband, who was McCartney's English literature teacher at the Liverpool Institute.[107] Durband was a co-founder and fund-raiser at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, where Willy Russell also worked, and introduced McCartney to Geoffrey Chaucer's works.[108] McCartney later took his A-level exams, but passed only one subject – Art.[109][110]

In 2001 McCartney published 'Blackbird Singing', a volume of poems, some of which were lyrics to his songs, and gave readings in Liverpool and New York City.[111] Some of them were serious: "Here Today" (about Lennon) and some humorous ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer").[112] In the foreword of the book, McCartney explained that when he was a teenager, he had "an overwhelming desire" to have a poem of his published in the school magazine. He wrote something "deep and meaningful", but it was rejected, and he feels that he has been trying to get some kind of revenge ever since. His first "real poem" was about the death of his childhood friend, Ivan Vaughan.[111]

In October 2005, McCartney released a children's book called High in the Clouds: An Urban Furry Tail. In a press release publicising the book, McCartney said, "I have loved reading for as long as I can remember", singling out Treasure Island as a childhood favourite.[113] McCartney collaborated with author Philip Ardagh and animator Geoff Dunbar to write the book.[114]

Contact with fellow ex-Beatles

John Lennon

Although McCartney's post-Beatles relationship with John Lennon was troubled, they became close again briefly in 1974 and even played together for the only time since The Beatles split (see A Toot and a Snore in '74). In later years, the two grew apart again.[115] McCartney would often call Lennon, but was never sure of what sort of reception he would get,[116] such as when McCartney once called Lennon and was told, "You're all pizza and fairytales!" [116] McCartney understood that he could not just phone Lennon and only talk about business, so they often talked about cats, baking bread, or babies.[117] According to May Pang, during Lennon's "Lost Weekend" with her they planned to visit McCartney in New Orleans, where McCartney was recording the Venus and Mars album, but Lennon went back to Ono the day before the planned visit after Ono said she had a new cure for Lennon's smoking habit.[118]

In a 1980 interview, Lennon said that the last time he had seen McCartney was when they had watched the episode of Saturday Night Live (May 1976) in which Lorne Michaels had made his $3,000 cash offer[119] to get Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr to reunite on the show. McCartney and Lennon had seriously considered going to the studio, but were too tired.[120] This event was fictionalised in the 2000 television film Two of Us. His last telephone call to Lennon, which was just before Lennon and Ono released Double Fantasy, was friendly. During the call, Lennon said (laughing) to McCartney, "This housewife wants a career!"[121] which referred to Lennon's househusband years, while looking after Sean Lennon.[122] In 1984, McCartney said this about the phone call: "Yes. That is a nice thing, a consoling factor for me, because I do feel it was sad that we never actually sat down and straightened our differences out. But fortunately for me, the last phone conversation I ever had with him was really great, and we didn't have any kind of blow-up."[123] Linda McCartney, speaking in the same 1984 interview stated: "I know that Paul was desperate to write with John again. And I know John was desperate to write. Desperate. People thought, well, he's taking care of Sean, he's a househusband and all that, but he wasn't happy. He couldn't write and it drove him crazy. And Paul could have helped him... easily."[123]

Reaction to Lennon's murder

On the morning of 9 December 1980, McCartney awoke to the news that Lennon had been murdered outside his home in the Dakota building in New York City.[124] Lennon's death created a media frenzy around the surviving members of The Beatles.[125] On the evening of 9 December, as McCartney was leaving an Oxford Street recording studio, he was surrounded by reporters and asked for his reaction to Lennon's death.[126] He was later criticised for what appeared, when published, to be an utterly superficial response: "It's a drag". [127] McCartney explained, "When John was killed somebody stuck a microphone at me and said: 'What do you think about it?' I said, 'It's a dra-a-ag' and meant it with every inch of melancholy I could muster. When you put that in print it says, 'McCartney in London today when asked for a comment on his dead friend said, "It's a drag."' It seemed a very flippant comment to make."[127] McCartney was also to recall:

I talked to Yoko the day after he was killed and the first thing she said was, "John was really fond of you." The last telephone conversation I had with him we were still the best of mates. He was always a very warm guy, John. His bluff was all on the surface. He used to take his glasses down, those granny glasses, and say, "It's only me." They were like a wall, you know? A shield. Those are the moments I treasure.[128]

In 1983, McCartney said:

I would not have been as typically human and standoffish as I was if I knew John was going to die. I would have made more of an effort to try and get behind his "mask" and have a better relationship with him.[128]

In a Playboy interview in 1984, McCartney said that he went home that night and watched the news on television – while sitting with all his children – and cried all evening.

McCartney carried on recording after the death of Lennon but did not play any live concerts for some time. He explained that this was because he was nervous that he would be "the next" to be murdered.[129][130] This led to a disagreement with Denny Laine, who wanted to continue touring and subsequently left Wings, which McCartney disbanded in 1981.[131] Also in June 1981, six months after Lennon's death, McCartney sang backup on George Harrison's tribute to Lennon, "All Those Years Ago", which also featured Ringo Starr on drums. McCartney would go on to record "Here Today", a tribute song to Lennon.

George Harrison

In 1977, Harrison had this to say about working with McCartney: "There were a lot of tracks though where I played bass...because what Paul would do, if he's written a song, he'd learn all the parts for Paul and then come in the studio and say, 'Do this.' He'd never give you the opportunity to come out with something. Paul would always help along when you'd done his ten songs—then when he got 'round to doing one of my songs, he would help. It was silly. It was very selfish, actually."[132] While being interviewed circa 1988, Harrison said McCartney had recently mentioned the possibility of the two of them writing together, to which Harrison laughed, "I've only been there about 30 years in Paul's life and it's like now he wants to write with me."

In September 1980, Lennon said of Harrison and McCartney's working relationship: "I remember the day [Harrison] called to ask for help on 'Taxman', one of his bigger songs. I threw in a few one-liners to help the song along, because that's what he asked for. He came to me because he could not go to Paul, because Paul would not have helped him at that period."[133] Despite this statement, McCartney did contribute to the song, playing the track's guitar solo.

In late 2001, McCartney learned that Harrison was losing his battle with cancer. Upon Harrison's death on 29 November 2001, McCartney told Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra, Good Morning America, The Early Show, MTV, VH1 and Today that George was like his "baby brother". Harrison spent his last days in a Hollywood Hills mansion that was once leased by McCartney.[134] On the day Harrison died, McCartney said, "George was a fantastic guy...still laughing and joking...a very brave man...and I love him like...he's my brother."[135] While guesting on Larry King Live alongside Ringo Starr, McCartney said of the last time he saw Harrison, "We just sat there stroking hands. And this is a guy, and, you know, you don't stroke hands with guys, like that, you know it was just beautiful. We just spent a couple of hours and it was really lovely it was like...a favourite memory of mine."[136] On the first anniversary of Harrison's death, McCartney played Harrison's "Something" on a ukulele at the Concert for George.[58]

Personal relationships

One of McCartney's first girlfriends, in 1959, was called Layla, a name he remembers being unusual in Liverpool at the time.[137] Layla was slightly older than McCartney and used to ask him to baby-sit with her. Julie Arthur, another girlfriend, was Ted Ray's niece.[137]

Dot Rhone

McCartney's first serious girlfriend in Liverpool was Dot Rhone, whom he met at the Casbah club in 1959.[138] McCartney chose clothes and make-up for Rhone, and he paid for her to have her hair styled like Brigitte Bardot's.[139][140] When McCartney first went to Hamburg with The Beatles, he wrote to Rhone regularly, and she accompanied Cynthia Lennon to Hamburg when The Beatles played there again in 1962.[141] The couple had a three-year relationship, and were due to marry until Rhone's miscarriage.[142]

Jane Asher

McCartney first met the British actress Jane Asher on 18 April 1963, when a photographer asked them to pose together at a Beatles performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.[143] The two began a relationship and McCartney took up residence with Asher at her parents' house at 57 Wimpole Street London, where he lived for nearly three years before the couple moved to McCartney's own house in St. John's Wood.[72] McCartney wrote several songs while at the Ashers', including "Yesterday" and several inspired by Asher, among them "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me", and "I'm Looking Through You".[73] McCartney and Asher had a five-year relationship, and they planned to marry, but Asher broke off the engagement when she discovered McCartney had become involved with another woman, Francie Schwartz.[144][145] However, Schwartz stated that McCartney and Asher had already broken up before the incident.[146]

Linda McCartney

McCartney performing with wife Linda in 1976

In 1969, McCartney married American photographer Linda Eastman, whom he described as the woman who gave him "the strength and courage to work again" after the break-up of The Beatles.[147] The pair had met previously at a 1967 Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O'Nails club,[95][148] during her UK assignment to take photographs of "Swinging Sixties" musicians in London. Paul and Linda were both vegetarian and supported the animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.[149] They had four children – Linda's daughter Heather (who was adopted by Paul), Mary, Stella and James – and remained married until Linda's death from breast cancer in 1998.

Heather Mills

In 2002, McCartney married Heather Mills, a former model and anti-landmines campaigner. The couple had a child, Beatrice, in 2003. They separated in May 2006 and were divorced in May 2008. Widespread animosity towards McCartney's wives was reported in 2004. "They [the British public] didn't like me giving up on Jane Asher", McCartney said. "I married a New York divorcee with a child, and at the time they didn't like that."[150]

Nancy Shevell

McCartney married New Yorker Nancy Shevell in a civil ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall, London on 9 October 2011. The wedding was a "low-key affair" attended by a group of around 30 family and friends.[151] The couple had been dating since November 2007.[152] A breast cancer survivor,[153] she is a member of the board of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority as well as vice president of a family-owned transportation conglomerate which owns New England Motor Freight.[154]

Lifestyle

Drugs

McCartney's introduction to drugs started in Hamburg, Germany.[155] The Beatles had to play for hours, and they were often given "Prellies" (Preludin) by German customers or by Astrid Kirchherr (whose mother bought them). McCartney would usually take one, but Lennon would often take four or five.[156]

McCartney remembered getting "very high" and giggling when The Beatles were introduced to cannabis by Bob Dylan in New York, in 1964.[157] McCartney's use of cannabis became regular, and he was quoted as saying that any future Beatles' lyrics containing the words "high", or "grass" were written specifically as a reference to cannabis, as was the phrase "another kind of mind" in "Got to Get You into My Life".[158] John Dunbar's flat at 29 Lennox Gardens, in London, became a regular hang-out for McCartney, where he talked to musicians, writers and artists, and smoked cannabis.[79] In 1965, Barry Miles introduced McCartney to hash brownies by using a recipe for hash fudge he found in the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.[159] During the filming of Help!, he occasionally smoked a spliff in the car on the way to the studio during filming, which often made him forget his lines.[160] Help! director Dick Lester said that he overheard "two beautiful women" trying to cajole McCartney into taking heroin, but he refused.[160]

McCartney's attitude about cannabis was made public in the 1960s, when he added his name to an advertisement in The Times, on 24 July 1967, which asked for the legalisation of cannabis, the release of all prisoners imprisoned because of possession, and research into marijuana's medical uses. The advertisement was sponsored by a group called Soma and was signed by 65 people, including The Beatles, Epstein, RD Laing, 15 doctors, and two MPs.[161]

McCartney was introduced to cocaine by Robert Fraser, and it was available during the recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[162][163] He admitted that he used the drug multiple times for about a year but stopped because of the unpleasant comedown.[164]

In 1967, on a sailing trip to Greece[165] (with the idea of buying an island for the whole group)[166] McCartney said everybody sat around and took LSD, although McCartney had first taken it with Tara Browne, in 1966.[167][168] He took his second "acid trip" with Lennon on 21 March 1967 after a studio session.[169] McCartney was the first British pop star to openly admit to using LSD, in an interview in the now-defunct Queen magazine.[170] His admission was followed by a TV interview in the UK on ITN on 19 June 1967, and when McCartney was asked about his admission of LSD use, he said:

I was asked a question by a newspaper, and the decision was whether to tell a lie or tell him the truth. I decided to tell him the truth ... but I really didn't want to say anything, you know, because if I had my way I wouldn't have told anyone. I'm not trying to spread the word about this. But the man from the newspaper is the man from the mass medium. I'll keep it a personal thing if he does too, you know ... if he keeps it quiet. But he wanted to spread it so it's his responsibility, you know, for spreading it, not mine.

McCartney was not arrested by Norman Pilcher's Drug Squad, as Donovan and several members of the Rolling Stones had been.[164] In 1972, however, police found cannabis plants growing on his Scottish farm.[171]

On 16 January 1980, Wings went to Tokyo for 11 concerts in Japan.[172] As McCartney was going through customs, officials found 7.7 ounces (218.3 g) of cannabis in his luggage.[172] He was arrested and taken to a Tokyo prison while the Japanese government decided what to do. McCartney had been previously denied a visa to Japan (in 1975) because he had been convicted twice in Europe for possession of cannabis.[164] Public figures called for McCartney to be put on trial for drug-smuggling. Had he been convicted, he would have faced up to seven years in prison.[172] The Wings Japanese tour was cancelled and the other members of Wings left Japan. After ten days in jail, McCartney was released and deported. He was told that he would not be welcome in Japan again, although a decade later he played a concert in Tokyo.[172] In 1984, Paul and Linda McCartney were both arrested for possession of cannabis.[173][174]

In an interview in 2004 he stated that he no longer smoked marijuana; he also admitted to taking heroin, LSD and cocaine but said his drug use was never excessive.[175]

Meditation

On 24 August 1967, McCartney met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton, and later went to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend a weekend 'initiation' conference, at which time he and the other Beatles learned Transcendental Meditation (TM).[176] "The whole meditation experience was very good and I still use the mantra. . . I find it soothing and I can imagine that the more you were to get into it, the more interesting it would get." [177] The time McCartney later spent in India at the Maharishi's ashram was highly productive, as practically all of the songs that would later be recorded for The White Album and Abbey Road were composed there by McCartney, Lennon, or both together.[178] Although McCartney was told that he was never to repeat the mantra to anyone else, he did tell Linda McCartney,[179] and said he meditated a lot while he was in jail in Japan.[177] In 2009, McCartney, along with Ringo Starr, headlined a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall, raising three million dollars for the David Lynch Foundation to fund instruction in Transcendental Meditation for at-risk youth.[180][181]

Activism

Paul and Linda McCartney became outspoken vegetarians and animal-rights activists. They said that their vegetarianism was realised when they happened to see lambs in a field as they ate a meal of lamb.[182] McCartney has also credited the 1942 Disney film Bambi – in which the young deer's mother is shot by a hunter – as the original inspiration for him to take an interest in animal rights.[183] In his first interview after Linda's death, he promised to continue working for animal rights.[184][185]

McCartney, in his late sixties, playing an orange electric guitar and wearing a red shirt that bears, in white writing, the words "no more land mines." His eyes are closed.
McCartney's campaign against landmines

In 1999, McCartney spent £3,000,000 to make sure Linda McCartney's food range remained free of GM ingredients.[186] In 2002, McCartney gave his support to a campaign against a proposed ban on the sale of certain vitamins, herbs, and mineral products in the European Union.[187] Following his marriage to Heather Mills, McCartney joined with her to campaign against landmines;[188][189] both McCartney and Mills are patrons of Adopt-A-Minefield.[188] In 2003, he played a personal concert for the wife of a wealthy banker and donated his one million dollar fee to the charity.[190] He also wore an anti-landmines t-shirt on the Back in the World tour.[189]

In 2006, the McCartneys travelled to Prince Edward Island to bring international attention to the seal hunt (their final public appearance together). Their arrival sparked attention in Newfoundland and Labrador where the hunt is of economic significance.[191] The couple also debated with Newfoundland's Premier Danny Williams on the CNN show Larry King Live. They further stated that the fishermen should quit hunting seals and begin a seal watching business.[192] McCartney has also criticised China's fur trade[193][194] and supports the Make Poverty History campaign.[195]

McCartney has been involved with a number of charity recordings and performances. In 2004, he donated a song to an album to aid the "US Campaign for Burma", in support of Burmese Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi,[196] and he had previously been involved in the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Live Aid, and the recording of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" (released 8 May 1989) following the Hillsborough disaster.[197][198]

In 2008, he donated a song to Aid Still Required's CD to assist with the restoration of the devastation done to Southeast Asia from the 2004 Tsunami.

In a December 2008 interview with Prospect Magazine, McCartney mentioned that he tried to convince the Dalai Lama to become a vegetarian. In a letter to the Dalai Lama, McCartney took issue with Buddhism and meat-eating being considered compatible, saying, "Forgive me for pointing this out, but if you eat animals then there is some suffering somewhere along the line." The Dalai Lama replied to McCartney by saying his doctors advised him to eat meat for health reasons. In the interview McCartney said, "I wrote back saying they were wrong."[199]

Football

The Beatles were advised by Epstein to make no comments about the football clubs they supported because it could alienate some fans, though it was well known that McCartney was a supporter of Everton Football Club, and that his father and relatives used to take him to matches.[200][201] His allegiance later shifted to Liverpool F.C.,[202][203] as on 28 July 1968, The Beatles were photographed in a photographer's studio at 192–212 Gray's Inn Road, with McCartney wearing a Liverpool F.C. rosette.[204] Linda McCartney later said: "We spent last night listening to Liverpool football team on the radio, wanting them to win so badly. Paul supports Liverpool. He was for Everton for a while because of his family — but it's all Liverpool now."[202][205][206]

Lennon and McCartney were present to watch the 1966 FA Cup Final at Wembley, between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday, and McCartney attended the 1968 FA Cup Final (18 May 1968) which was played by West Bromwich Albion against Everton.[207] After the end of the match, McCartney shared cigarettes and whisky with other football fans.[206] The ex-Liverpool player, Albert Stubbins, was the only footballer shown on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover.[201] McCartney tried to listen (on a radio) to the Liverpool v Manchester United 1977 FA Cup Final, while sailing in the Caribbean,[201] and the video for McCartney's "Pipes of Peace" (in 1983) recreated the 1915 football game played between German and British troops during World War I, at Christmas.[208][209]

At the end of the live version of "Coming Up" recorded in Glasgow in 1979 (later to become a US number one single) the crowd begins to sing "Paul McCartney!" until McCartney takes over and changes the chant to "Kenny Dalglish!", referring to the current Liverpool and Scotland striker. At the same concert, Gordon Smith, former football player who played for Rangers and Brighton & Hove Albion, met the McCartneys, and later accepted an invitation to visit their home in East Sussex in 1980. Smith later said that McCartney was "thrilled I knew Kenny Dalglish", to which Linda added: "I like Gordon McQueen of Man United", and Smith replied, "I know him too."[210]

McCartney attended the 1986 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton,[206] and in 1989, he contributed to the "Ferry Cross the Mersey" charity single that was recorded to aid victims of the Hillsborough Disaster, which happened during a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.[211] McCartney performed at the Liverpool F.C. Anfield stadium on 1 June 2008, as a part of Liverpool's European Capital of Culture year.[212] Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters sang with McCartney on "Band on the Run", and played drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R.". Ono and Olivia Harrison attended the concert, along with Ken Dodd, and the former Liverpool F.C. football manager Rafael Benítez.[213][214][215]

In an interview in 2008, McCartney ended speculation about his allegiance when he said:

"Here's the deal: my father was born in Everton, my family are officially Evertonians, so if it comes down to a derby match or an FA Cup final between the two, I would have to support Everton. But after a concert at Wembley Arena I got a bit of a friendship with Kenny Dalglish, who had been to the gig and I thought 'You know what? I am just going to support them both because it's all Liverpool and I don't have that Catholic-Protestant thing.' So I did have to get special dispensation from the Pope to do this but that's it, too bad. I support them both. They are both great teams, but if it comes to the crunch, I'm Evertonian."[216]

In 2010, there was heavy speculation surrounding McCartney that he was to head up a consortium launching a take-over bid for struggling Charlton Athletic. Links between the club and the famous musician go a long way back with Charlton's famous supporters anthem – Valley, Floyd Road – using the tune and a number of lyrics from the Wings song "Mull of Kintyre".[217]

Business

McCartney is one of Britain's wealthiest musicians, with an estimated fortune of £750 million ($1.2 billion) in 2009,[218] although Justice Bennett, in his judgement on McCartney's divorce case found no evidence that McCartney was worth more than £400 million. In December 1998, he was approached to purchase a stake in Everton Football Club by former school friend Bill Kenwright who wished to put a consortium together but McCartney chose to decline the offer.[219] In addition to his interest in Apple Corps, McCartney's MPL Communications owns a significant music publishing catalogue, with access to over 25,000 copyrights.[220] McCartney earned £40 million in 2003, making him Britain's highest media earner.[221] This rose to £48.5 million by 2005.[222] In the same year he joined the top American talent agency Grabow Associates, who arrange private performances for their richest clients. Northern Songs was established in 1963, by Dick James, to publish the songs of Lennon–McCartney.[223]

The Beatles' partnership was replaced in 1968 by a jointly held company, Apple Corps, which continues to control Apple's commercial interests. Northern Songs was purchased by Associated Television (ATV) in 1969, and was sold in 1985 to Michael Jackson. For many years McCartney was unhappy about Jackson's purchase and handling of Northern Songs.[224]

MPL Communications is an umbrella company for McCartney's business interests, which owns a wide range of copyrights,[225] as well as the publishing rights to musicals.[226] In 2006, the Trademarks Registry reported that MPL had started a process to secure the protections associated with registering the name "Paul McCartney" as a trademark.[227] The 2005 films, Brokeback Mountain[228] and Good Night, and Good Luck, feature MPL copyrights.[229]

In April 2009, it was revealed that McCartney, in common with other wealthy musicians, had seen a significant decline in his net worth over the preceding year. It was estimated that his fortune had fallen by some £60m, from £238m to £175m.[230] The losses were attributed to the ongoing global recession, and the resultant decline in value of property and stock market holdings.[230]

Critique, recognition and achievements

McCartney performing in Prague, 6 June 2004

McCartney is listed in The Guinness Book Of Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history with sales of 100 million singles and 60 gold discs,[231] "Sir Paul McCartney became the Most Successful Songwriter who has written/co written 188 charted records, of which 91 reached the Top 10 and 33 made it to No.1 totalling 1,662 weeks on the chart (up to the beginning of 2008)."[232]

In the US, McCartney has achieved thirty-two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including twenty-one with The Beatles,[7] one as a co-writer on Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds",[10] nine solo, with Wings or other collaborators,[8] and one as the composer of "A World Without Love", a number one single for Peter and Gordon.[9] In the UK, McCartney has been involved in more number-one singles than any other artist under a variety of credits, although Elvis Presley has achieved more as a solo artist. McCartney has twenty four number-one singles in the UK, including seventeen with the Beatles, one solo, and one each with Wings, Stevie Wonder, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and one with "The Christians et all".[6] McCartney is the only artist to reach the UK number one as a soloist ("Pipes of Peace"), duo ("Ebony and Ivory" with Stevie Wonder), trio ("Mull of Kintyre", Wings), quartet ("She Loves You", The Beatles), quintet ("Get Back", The Beatles with Billy Preston), and as part of a musical ensemble for charity (Ferry Aid).[233]

McCartney was voted the "Greatest Composer of the Millennium" by BBC News Online readers and McCartney's song "Yesterday" is thought to be the most covered song in history with more than 2,200 recorded versions[3] and according to the BBC, "The track is the only one by a UK writer to have been aired more than seven million times on American TV and radio and is third in the all-time list. Sir Paul McCartney's Yesterday is the most played song by a British writer this century in the US."[4] After its 1977 release, the Wings single "Mull of Kintyre" became the highest-selling record in British chart history, and remained so until 1984.[234] (Three charity singles have since surpassed it in sales; the first to do so, in 1984, was Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in which McCartney was a participant.)

On 2 July 2005, he was involved with the fastest-released single in history. His performance of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with U2 at Live 8 was released only 45 minutes after it was performed, before the end of the concert.[235] The single reached number six on the Billboard charts, just hours after the single's release, and hit number one on numerous online download charts across the world.[236] McCartney played for the largest stadium audience in history when 184,000 people paid to see him perform at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 21 April 1990.[237]

McCartney's scheduled concert in St Petersburg, Russia was his 3,000th concert and took place in front of 60,000 fans in Russia, on 20 June 2004.[238] Over his career, McCartney has played 2,523 gigs with The Beatles, 140 with Wings, and 325 as a solo artist.[239] Only his second concert in Russia, with the first just the year before on Moscow's Red Square as the former Communist U.S.S.R. had previously banned music from The Beatles as a "corrupting influence", McCartney hired three jets, at a reported cost of $36,000 (€29,800) (£28,000), to spray dry ice in the clouds above Saint Petersburg's Winter Palace Square in a successful attempt to prevent rain.[240]

The day McCartney flew into the former Soviet country, he celebrated his 62nd birthday, and after the concert, according to RIA Novosti news agency, he received a phone call from a fan; then-President Vladimir Putin, who telephoned him after the concert to wish him a happy birthday.

McCartney receiving the Gershwin Award from President Barack Obama in the White House, June 2010

In the concert programme for his 1989 world tour, McCartney wrote that Lennon received all the credit for being the avant-garde Beatle,[71] and McCartney was known as "baby-faced", which he disagreed with.[241] People also assumed that Lennon was the "hard-edged one", and McCartney was the "soft-edged" Beatle,[23] although McCartney admitted to "bossing Lennon around."[242] Linda McCartney said that McCartney had a "hard-edge" – and not just on the surface – which she knew about after all the years she had spent living with him.[23][243] McCartney seemed to confirm this edge when he commented that he sometimes meditates, which he said is better than "sleeping, eating, or shouting at someone".[179]

The minor planet 4148, discovered in 1983, was named "McCartney" in his honour.[244]

On 18 June 2006, McCartney celebrated his 64th birthday, a milestone that was the subject of one of the first songs he ever wrote, at the age of sixteen,[245] The Beatles' song "When I'm Sixty-Four". Paul Vallely noted in The Independent:

Paul McCartney's 64th birthday is not merely a personal event. It is a cultural milestone for a generation. Such is the nature of celebrity, McCartney is one of those people who has represented the hopes and aspirations of those born in the baby-boom era, which had its awakening in the Sixties.
—Paul Vallely, 2006[246]

McCartney received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 9 February 2012, the last one of the Fab Four to receive the honor.[247]

McCartney will receive the MusiCares Person of the Year honour on 10 February 2012.[66]

Discography

Tours

Arms

References

Footnotes
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Bibliography

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Who2 Profiles. Copyright © 1998-2012 by Who2, LLC. All rights reserved. See the Paul McCartney biography from Who2.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Music. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 5th Edition. Copyright © Oxford University Press, 2007. All rights reserved.  Read more
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