Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney CH MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One of the most successful composers and performers of all time, McCartney is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and musical eclecticism, exploring genres ranging from pre–rock and roll pop to classical, ballads, and electronica. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most successful in modern music history.

Born in Liverpool, McCartney taught himself piano, guitar, and songwriting as a teenager, having been influenced by his father, a jazz player, and rock and roll performers such as Little Richard and Buddy Holly. He began his career when he joined Lennon's skiffle group, the Quarrymen, in 1957, which eventually evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Sometimes called "the cute Beatle", McCartney later immersed himself in the London avant-garde scene and played a key role in incorporating experimental aesthetics into the Beatles' studio productions. Starting with the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, he gradually became the band's de facto leader, providing creative impetus for most of their music and film projects. Many of his Beatles songs, including "And I Love Her", "Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby", and "Blackbird", rank among the most covered songs in history. Although primarily a bassist with the Beatles, he played a number of other instruments, including keyboards, guitars, and drums, on various songs.

After the Beatles disbanded, he debuted as a solo artist with the 1970 album McCartney and went on to form the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine. Under McCartney's leadership, Wings became one of the most successful bands of the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote their US or UK number-one hits, such as "My Love", "Band on the Run", "Listen to What the Man Said", "Silly Love Songs", and "Mull of Kintyre". He resumed his solo career in 1980 and has been touring as a solo artist since 1989. Apart from Wings, his UK or US number-one hits include "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (with Linda), "Coming Up", "Pipes of Peace", "Ebony and Ivory" (with Stevie Wonder), and "Say Say Say" (with Michael Jackson). Beyond music, he has been involved in projects to promote international charities related to animal rights, seal hunting, land mines, vegetarianism, poverty, and music education.

McCartney has written or co-written a record 32 songs that have topped the Billboard Hot 100 and, as of 2009, he had sales of 25.5 million RIAA-certified units in the US. His honours include two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1999), an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, 18 Grammy Awards, an appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1965, and a knighthood in 1997 for services to music. As of 2020, he is one of the wealthiest musicians in the world, with an estimated fortune of £800 million.

Early Days
Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942 to parents Mary McCartney and James McCartney. On 31 October 1956, when Paul was only fourteen years old, his mother, Mary McCartney, died of breast cancer. After passing his 11-Plus exam in 1953, Paul enrolled in the Liverpool Institute, where he met future band mate, George Harrison, in 1954.

McCartney was heavily influenced by American Rhythm and Blues music. He has stated that Little Richard and Elvis were his idols 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.

Paul was introduced to John Lennon and his band The Quarrymen at the St. Peter's Church Hall fête in Woolton on 6 July 1957. McCartney was very interested in music due to the influence of his father, who was once a jazz musician. Paul joined the band, and he and John began writing songs together. Although John was the leader of the band, Paul was always full of ideas.

When bassist Stuart Sutcliffe quit the band, Paul became the group's permanent bassist. The Quarrymen officially changed their name to The Beatles soon after.

The Beatles After former drummer Pete Best was kicked out of the band, Ringo Starr was brought in to replace him. The Beatles soon became extremely popular in Britain and America. Paul wrote many famous songs during this time, including "Yesterday," "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be."

McCartney is a noted animal lover. He had a sheepdog named Martha and wrote a song about her called Martha My Dear. She was one of the first of many McCartney sheepdogs.

When Beatles manager Brian Epstein died of a drug overdose, McCartney urged the band to stay together, while the other three members were ready to quit. It was Paul's idea to make a new film, Magical Mystery Tour.

Unfortunately, The Beatles had some creative differences, and Paul announced they had officially broken up on April 10, 1970. The band had been wanting to disband since the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, but McCartney had kept them together. During the break-up times, Paul would try his best to get them back to what they were in 1962–66, but other band mates found it annoying and quit. Around the time of the band's breakup, Paul released his first solo album, McCartney.

Paul and Beatles drummer Ringo Starr have a few notable things in common. Paul and Ringo are both left-handed, though Ringo became ambidextrous after his grandmother constantly nagged him to write with his right hand. No matter how hard Paul tried, he never learned how to use his right hand very well. Paul and Ringo were both vegetarian, but for different reasons; Paul ethical and Ringo medical.

Early solo career and Wings
In 1971, McCartney released his second solo album, Ram. The album was credited to both Paul and his wife. In August, Paul formed the band Wings. The band consisted of Paul, his wife, guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell. They soon released their debut album, Wild Life.

Wings went on tour in 1972, and released their second album, Red Rose Speedway, in 1973. That same year, Wings released Band on the Run, their most critically acclaimed album. The album got the band two Emmy Awards. Through 1975 and 1976, Wings embarked on the ambitious Wings Over the World tour, which was released as Wings over America.

The band released music until 1981, when the band disbanded. McCartney said that the band "parted in a friendly way."

At some point, he and Linda became strict vegetarians. All of Paul and Linda's kids are vegetarians.

Solo career
McCartney's first solo album was developed during the breakup of The Beatles and was released in April 1970 about a month before the release of Let It Be. The album is notable for the fact that McCartney performed all instruments and vocals besides some backing vocals performed by his wife, Linda. The album enjoyed moderate success. The album's most memorable track is "Maybe I'm Amazed".

His second solo album, Ram, was released in 1971. Most of the songs were developed after a lengthy vacation in Scotland with Linda. The album has a deliberately ragged sound in some parts. Criticisms include comments of overly melodic tunes and overly optimistic cheerful sentiments. However, Ram has proven to be a sweet gem of an album which becomes increasingly charming as time passes and the music world evolves. The album also has an abundance of tongue in cheek humour. Take for example the song "Eat at Home" which describes McCartney's romantic wishes. The song "Too Many People" was (wrongly) received as a jab at The Beatles and particularly John Lennon. The song prompted negative remarks from Lennon and it is rumured that Lennon's song "How Do You Sleep" was produced in response to McCartney's comments in music and the press.

After former band mate John Lennon was murdered, McCartney and Wings stopped touring, causing the breakup of the band. Soon after, McCartney sang, along with Ringo Starr, backup on "All Those Years Ago," George Harrison's tribute to John Lennon.

McCartney released McCartney II in 1980 and Tug of War in 1982. The latter reunited him with ex-producer George Martin and Ringo Starr.

In 1984, Paul wrote and starred in Give My Regards to Broad Street. The movie did not do well critically or commercially.

During the second half of the decade, Paul released five albums, including Flowers in the Dirt and Press to Play. In late 1989, McCartney embarked on his first concert tour since John Lennon's assassination.

Achievements and Reception
McCartney has achieved twenty-nine number-one singles in the US, twenty of them with The Beatles, the rest with Wings and as a solo artiste. McCartney has been involved in more number-one singles in the United Ringo than any other artist under a variety of credits, although Elvis Presley has achieved more as a solo artise. McCartney has achieved 24 number-ones in the UK: solo (1), Wings (1), with Stevie Wonder (1), Ferry Aid (1), Ban- Aid (1), Ban- Aid 20 (1) and The Beatles (17). McCartney is the only artiste 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). In America, McCartney reached number-one with 29 singles: solo (1), Wings (5), with Stevie Wonder (1), with Michael Jackson (1), with Linda McCartney (1), with the Beatles (20); he was also the composer of "A World Without Love," a #1 single for Peter and Gordon. McCartney's song "Yesterday" is the most covered song in history with more than 3,500 recorded versions and has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American TV and radio, for which McCartney was given an award. After its 1977 release the Wings single "Mull of Kintyre" became the highest-selling record in British chart history, and remained so until 1984. (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?", whose participants included McCartney.)

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. 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. 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.

Over his career, McCartney has played 2,523 gigs with The Beatles, 140 with Wings, and 325 as a solo artist.

On 7 June 2006, McCartney celebrated his 64th birthday, the human milestone that was the subject of one of the first songs he ever wrote, at the age of sixteen, the Beatles song "When I'm Sixty-Four."}

Beatles songs written by Paul McCartney

 * ‘Love Me Do’
 * ‘P.S. I Love You’
 * ‘I Saw Her Standing There’
 * ‘Hold Me Tight’
 * ‘All My Loving’
 * ‘Can´t Buy Me Love’
 * ‘And I Love Her’
 * ‘Things We Said Today’
 * ‘Every Little Thing’
 * ‘What You´re Doing’
 * ‘Eight Days a Week’
 * ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’
 * ‘She’s A Woman’
 * ‘Another Girl’
 * ‘The Night Before’
 * ‘Tell Me What You See’
 * ‘I’m Down’
 * ‘I´ve Just Seen a Face’
 * ‘Paperback Writer’
 * ‘Yesterday’
 * ‘Drive My Car’
 * ‘I’m Looking Through You’
 * ‘Michelle’
 * ‘You Won’t See Me’
 * ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’
 * ‘Eleanor Rigby’
 * ‘For No One’
 * ‘Yellow Submarine’
 * ‘Good Day Sunshine’
 * ‘Here, There and Everywhere’
 * ‘Penny Lane’
 * ‘Hello, Goodbye’
 * ‘When I’m 64’
 * ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’
 * ‘Fixing a Hole’
 * ‘Lovely Rita’
 * ‘Getting Better’
 * ‘She’s Leaving Home’
 * ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’
 * ‘Sgt. Pepper´s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’
 * ‘Magical Mystery Tour’
 * ‘Your Mother Should Know’
 * ‘The Fool on the HIll’
 * ‘Blackbird’
 * ‘Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da’
 * ‘Helter Skelter’
 * ‘Mother Nature’s Son’
 * ‘Rocky Raccoon’
 * ‘Wild Honey Pie’
 * ‘Back in the USSR’
 * ‘Lady Madonna’
 * ‘Hey Jude’
 * ‘I Will’
 * ‘Birthday’
 * ‘Honey Pie’
 * ‘Martha My Dear’
 * ‘Why Don´t We Do It in the Road?’
 * ‘All Together Now’
 * ‘Oh! Darling’
 * ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’
 * ‘Her Majesty’
 * ‘Golden Slumbers’
 * ‘Carry That Weight’
 * ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’
 * ‘The End’
 * ‘She Came In Through The Bathroom Window’
 * ‘Get Back’
 * ‘Two of us’
 * ‘Let It Be’
 * ‘The Long and Winding Road’

With The Beatles

 * Please Please Me (1963)
 * With the Beatles (1963)
 * A Hard Day's Night (1964)
 * Beatles for Sale (1964)
 * Help! (1965)
 * Rubber Soul (1965)
 * Revolver (1966)
 * Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
 * Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
 * The Beatles ("The White Album") (1968)
 * Yellow Submarine (1969)
 * Abbey Road (1969)
 * Let It Be (1970)
 * Past Masters (1988, compilation)

Solo albums

 * 1) McCartney (1970)
 * 2) Ram (1971) (With Linda McCartney)
 * 3) Wild Life (1971) (With Wings)
 * 4) Red Rose Speedway (1973) (With Wings)
 * 5) Band on the Run (1973) (With Wings)
 * 6) Venus and Mars (1975) (With Wings)
 * 7) Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976) (With Wings)
 * 8) Thrillington (1977) (As Percy "Thrills" Thrillington)
 * 9) London Town (1978) (With Wings)
 * 10) Back to the Egg (1979) (With Wings)
 * 11) McCartney II (1980)
 * 12) Tug of War (1982)
 * 13) Pipes of Peace (1983)
 * 14) Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984)
 * 15) Press to Play (1986)
 * 16) Flowers in the Dirt (1989)
 * 17) Снова в СССР (1991)
 * 18) Off the Ground (1993)
 * 19) Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (1993) (With The Fireman)
 * 20) Flaming Pie (1997)
 * 21) Standing Stone (1997)
 * 22) Rushes (1998) (With The Fireman)
 * 23) Run Devil Run (1999)
 * 24) Working Classical (1999)
 * 25) Liverpool Sound Collage (2000)
 * 26) Driving Rain (2001)
 * 27) Twin Freaks (2005) (With The Freelance Hellraiser)
 * 28) Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005)
 * 29) Ecce Cor Meum (2006)
 * 30) Memory Almost Full (2007)
 * 31) Electric Arguments (2008) (With The Fireman)
 * 32) Ocean's Kingdom (2011)
 * 33) Kisses on the Bottom (2012)
 * 34) New (2013)
 * 35) Egypt Station (2018)
 * 36) McCartney III (2020)

Basses

 * 1961 Hofner 500/1 Custom (1961-1964)
 * 1963 Hofner 500/1 (1963-1966/1968-1970/1989-_)
 * 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S-LH Fireglo (1965-1990)
 * 1966 Fender Jazz Bass Sunburst (1968-1969)

Electric

 * 1962 Epiphone 230TD Casino Sunburst (1965-_)
 * 1964 Fender Esquire (1966-1968)
 * 1960 Gibson Les Paul Cherry Sunburst (1989-present)

Acoustic

 * 1964 Epiphone Texan FT-79 (1964-_)
 * 1968 Martin D-28 (1968-1970)
 * Takamine EN25C (1989-????)

Other

 * Ludwig Super Classic drum kit in Oyster Black Pearl finish with 22-inch kick drum (1968-1969)
 * Unidentified Grand Piano (1963-_)