page_title: Paul McCartney
section_title: John Lennon
hierarchical_section_title: Paul McCartney / Personal relationships / Beatles / John Lennon
caption_attribution_description: Svenska: The Beatles i Hötorgscity, Stockholm 1963
context_page_description: Sir James Paul McCartney CH MBE is an English singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and record and film producer who gained worldwide fame as co-lead vocalist and bassist for the Beatles. His songwriting partnership with John Lennon remains the most successful in history. After the group disbanded in 1970, he pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine.
  A self-taught musician, McCartney is proficient on bass, guitar, keyboards, and drums. He is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, his versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and his eclecticism. McCartney began his career as a member of the Quarrymen in 1957, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Starting with the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, he gradually became the Beatles' de facto leader, providing the creative impetus for most of their music and film projects. His Beatles songs "And I Love Her", "Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby" and "Blackbird" rank among the most covered songs in history.
  In 1970, McCartney debuted as a solo artist with the album McCartney.
context_section_description: Though McCartney had a strained relationship with Lennon, they briefly became close again in early 1974, and played music together on one occasion. In later years, the two grew apart. McCartney often phoned Lennon, but was apprehensive about the reception he would receive. During one call, Lennon told him, "You're all pizza and fairytales!" In an effort to avoid talking only about business, they often spoke of cats, babies, or baking bread.
  On 24 April 1976, McCartney and Lennon were watching an episode of Saturday Night Live at Lennon's home in the Dakota when Lorne Michaels made a $3,000 cash offer for the Beatles to reunite. While they seriously considered going to the SNL studio a few blocks away, they decided it was too late. This was their last time together. VH1 fictionalised this event in the 2000 television film Two of Us. McCartney's last telephone call to Lennon, days before Lennon and Ono released Double Fantasy, was friendly: "[It is] 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", he said.
caption: McCartney (right) with Lennon in 1963
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