Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney , ( born 18 June 1942 ) is an English musician , singer , songwriter , multi - instrumentalist and composer . With John Lennon , George Harrison and Ringo Starr , he gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles , and his collaboration with Lennon is one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century . After the band ' s break - up , he pursued a solo career , later forming Wings with his first wife , Linda , and singer - songwriter Denny Laine . " Guinness World Records " described McCartney as the " most successful composer and recording artist of all time " , with 60 gold discs and sales of over 100 million albums and 100 million singles , and as the " most successful songwriter " in United Kingdom chart history . More than 2 , 200 artists have covered his Beatles song " Yesterday " , more than any other song in history . Wings ' 1977 release " Mull of Kintyre " is one of the all - time best - selling singles in the UK . Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in March 1999 , McCartney has written , or co - written 32 songs that have reached number one on the " Billboard " Hot 100 , and he has sold over 15 . 5 million RIAA - certified units in the United States . McCartney has released an extensive catalogue of songs as a solo artist and has composed classical and electronic music . He has taken part in projects to promote international charities related to such subjects as animal rights , seal hunting , landmines , vegetarianism , poverty , and music education . McCartney has married three times and is the father of five children . Childhood . McCartney was born on 18 June 1942 , in Walton Hospital , Liverpool , England , where his mother , Mary ( née Mohin ) , had qualified to practise as a nurse . His father , James ( " Jim " ) McCartney , was absent from his son ' s birth due to his work as a volunteer firefighter during World War II . Paul has one younger brother , Michael ( born 7 January 1944 ) . Though the children were baptised in their mother ' s Roman Catholic faith , their father , a former Protestant turned agnostic , felt Catholic schools sacrificed the education of their students for the sake of their religious teachings , so he and Mary did not emphasise religion in the household . McCartney had attended Stockton Wood Road Primary School from 1947 until 1949 , when he transferred to Joseph Williams Junior School due to overcrowding at Stockton . In 1953 , he passed the 11 - plus exam , with only three others out of ninety examinees , gaining admission to the Liverpool Institute . In 1954 , he met schoolmate George Harrison on the bus to the Institute from his suburban home in Speke . Harrison had also passed the exam , meaning he could attend a grammar school rather than a secondary modern school , where most pupils went until becoming eligible to work . The two quickly became friends ; McCartney later admitted : " I tended to talk down to him , because he was a year younger . " As the family ' s primary wage earner , Mary ' s income as a midwife had enabled them to move into 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton , where they lived until 1964 . She rode a bicycle to her patients ; McCartney described an early memory of her leaving at " about three in the morning [ the ] streets . . . thick with snow " . On 31 October 1956 , when McCartney was fourteen , his mother died of an embolism . McCartney ' s loss later became a point of connection with John Lennon , whose mother , Julia , had died when he was seventeen . A trumpet player and pianist who led Jim Mac ' s Jazz Band in the 1920s , McCartney ' s father kept an upright piano in the front room , and he encouraged his sons to be musical . Jim gave Paul a nickel - plated trumpet for his fourteenth birthday , but when rock and roll became popular on Radio Luxembourg , Paul traded it for a £15 Framus Zenith ( model 17 ) acoustic guitar , rationalising that it would be difficult to sing while playing a trumpet . He found it difficult to play guitar right - handed , but after noticing a poster advertising a Slim Whitman concert and realising that Whitman also played left - handed , he reversed the order of the strings . McCartney wrote his first song , " I Lost My Little Girl " , on the Zenith , and composed another early tune that would become " When I ' m Sixty - Four " on the piano . Against his father ' s advice , he took few piano lessons , preferring to learn by ear . Heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues music , Little Richard was his schoolboy idol . " Long Tall Sally " was the first song McCartney performed in public , at a Butlins holiday camp talent competition . Musical career . 1957 – 1960 : the Quarrymen . At the age of fifteen , McCartney met Lennon and his band , the Quarrymen , at the St Peter ' s Church Hall fête in Woolton on 6 July 1957 . The Quarrymen played a mix of rock and roll and skiffle , a type of popular music with jazz , blues and folk influences . The band invited McCartney to join soon afterwards as a rhythm guitarist , and he formed a close working relationship with Lennon . Harrison joined in 1958 as lead guitarist , followed by Lennon ' s art school friend Stuart Sutcliffe on bass , in 1960 . By May 1960 the band had tried several names , including Beatals , Johnny and the Moondogs and the Silver Beetles . They adopted the name the Beatles in August 1960 and recruited drummer Pete Best shortly before a five - engagement residency in Hamburg . 1960 – 1970 : the Beatles . Informally represented by Allan Williams , the Beatles ' first booking was for a series of performances in Hamburg , starting in 1960 . In 1961 , Sutcliffe left the band and McCartney reluctantly became their bass player . They recorded professionally for the first time while in Hamburg , credited as the Beat Brothers , as the backing band for English singer Tony Sheridan on the single " My Bonnie " . This brought them to the attention of Brian Epstein , a key figure in their subsequent development and success . He became their manager in January 1962 . Ringo Starr replaced Best in August , and the band had their first hit , " Love Me Do " , in October , becoming popular in the UK in 1963 , and in the US a year later . Their fans ' hysteria became known as " Beatlemania " , and the press sometimes referred to McCartney as the " cute Beatle " . In 1965 , the Beatles released the McCartney composition " Yesterday " , featuring a string quartet . Included on the " Help ! " LP , the song was the group ' s first recorded use of classical music elements and their first recording that involved only a single band member . " Yesterday " became the most covered song in popular music history . Later that year , during recording sessions for the album " Rubber Soul " , McCartney began to supplant Lennon as the dominant musical force in the band . Musicologist Ian MacDonald wrote , " from [ 1965 ] . . . [ McCartney ] would be in the ascendant not only as a songwriter , but also as instrumentalist , arranger , producer , and " de facto " musical director " . Critics described " Rubber Soul " as a significant advance in the refinement and profundity of the band ' s music and lyrics . Considered a high point in the Beatles catalogue , both Lennon and McCartney claimed lead authorship for the song , " In My Life " . McCartney said of the album , " we ' d had our cute period , and now it was time to expand . " Recording engineer Norman Smith stated that the " Rubber Soul " sessions exposed indications of increasing contention within the band : " the clash between John and Paul was becoming obvious . . . [ and ] as far as Paul was concerned , George [ Harrison ] could do no right — Paul was absolutely finicky . " In 1966 , the Beatles released the album " Revolver " . Featuring sophisticated lyrics , studio experimentation , and an expanded repertoire of musical genres ranging from innovative string arrangements to psychedelic rock , the album marked an artistic leap for the Beatles . The first of three consecutive McCartney A - sides , the single " Paperback Writer " preceded the LP ' s release . The Beatles produced a short promotional film for the song , and another for its B - side , " Rain " . The films , described by Harrison as " the forerunner of videos " , aired on " The Ed Sullivan Show " and " Top of the Pops " in June 1966 . " Revolver " also included McCartney ' s " Eleanor Rigby " , which featured a string octet . According to Gould , the song is " a neoclassical tour de force . . . a true hybrid , conforming to no recognizable style or genre of song " . With the exception of some backing vocals , the song included only McCartney ' s lead vocal and the strings arranged by producer George Martin . The band gave their final commercial concert at the end of their 1966 US tour . Later that year , McCartney completed his first musical project apart from the group — a film score for the UK production " The Family Way " . The score was a collaboration with Martin , who used two McCartney themes to write thirteen variations . The soundtrack failed to chart , but it won McCartney an Ivor Novello Award for Best Instrumental Theme . Upon the end of the Beatles ' performing career , McCartney sensed unease in the band and wanted them to maintain creative productivity . He pressed them to start a new project , which became " Sgt . Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band " , widely regarded as rock ' s first concept album . Inspired to create a new persona for the group , to serve as a vehicle for experimentation and to demonstrate to their fans that they had musically matured , McCartney invented the fictional band of the album ' s title track . As McCartney explained , " We were fed up with being the Beatles . We really hated that fucking four little mop - top approach . We were not boys we were men . . . and [ we ] thought of ourselves as artists rather than just performers . " Starting in November 1966 , the band adopted an experimental attitude during recording sessions for the album . According to engineer Geoff Emerick , " the Beatles were looking to go out on a limb , both musically and sonically . . . we were utilising a lot of tape varispeeding and other manipulation techniques . . . limiters and . . . effects like flanging and ADT . " Their recording of " A Day in the Life " required a forty - piece orchestra , which Martin and McCartney took turns conducting . The sessions produced the double A - side single " Strawberry Fields Forever " / " Penny Lane " in February 1967 , and the LP followed in June . McCartney ' s " She ' s Leaving Home " was an orchestral pop song . MacDonald described the track as " [ among ] the finest work on " Sgt . Pepper " — imperishable popular art of its time . " Based on an ink drawing by McCartney , the LP ' s cover included a collage designed by pop art ists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth , featuring the Beatles in costume as the Sgt . Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band , standing with a host of celebrities . The Beatles ' heavy moustaches reflected the growing influence of hippie style trends on the band , while their clothing " spoofed the vogue in Britain for military fashions " , wrote Gould . Scholar David Scott Kastan described " Sgt . Pepper " as " the most important and influential rock - and - roll album ever recorded " . Epstein ' s death in August 1967 created a void , which left the Beatles perplexed and concerned about their future . McCartney , stepping in to fill that void , gradually became the " de facto " leader and business manager of the group Lennon had once led . His first creative suggestion after this change of leadership was to propose that the band move forward on their plans to produce a film for television , which was to become " Magical Mystery Tour " . The project was " an administrative nightmare throughout " , according to Beatles ' historian Mark Lewisohn . McCartney largely directed the film , which brought the group their first unfavourable critical response . However , the film ' s soundtrack was more successful . It was released in the UK as a six - track double extended play disc ( EP ) , and as an identically titled LP in the US , filled out with five of the band ' s recent singles . The only Capitol compilation later included in the group ' s official canon of studio albums , the " Magical Mystery Tour " LP achieved $ 8 million in sales within three weeks of its release , higher initial sales than any other Capitol LP up to that point . In January 1968 , EMI filmed the Beatles for a promotional trailer intended to advertise the animated film " Yellow Submarine " , loosely based on the imaginary world evoked by McCartney ' s 1966 composition . Though critics admired the film for its visual style , humour and music , the soundtrack album issued seven months later received a less enthusiastic response . By late 1968 , relations within the band were deteriorating . The tension grew while recording " The Beatles " , commonly known as the " White Album " . Matters worsened the following year during the " Let It Be " sessions , when a camera crew filmed McCartney lecturing the group : " We ' ve been very negative since Mr . Epstein passed away . . . we were always fighting [ his ] discipline a bit , but it ' s silly to fight that discipline if it ' s our own " . In March 1969 , McCartney married Linda Eastman , and in August , the couple had their first child , Mary , named after his late mother . For " Abbey Road " , the band ' s last recorded album , Martin suggested " a continuously moving piece of music " , urging the group to think symphonically . McCartney agreed , but Lennon did not . They eventually compromised , agreeing to McCartney ' s suggestion : an LP featuring individual songs on side one , and a long medley on side two . On 10 April 1970 , in the midst of business disagreements with his bandmates , McCartney announced his departure from the group . He filed suit for the band ' s formal dissolution on 31 December 1970 . More legal disputes followed as McCartney ' s attorneys , his in - laws John and Lee Eastman , fought Lennon , Harrison , and Starr ' s business manager , Allen Klein , over royalties and creative control . An English court legally dissolved the Beatles on 9 January 1975 , though sporadic lawsuits against their record company EMI , Klein , and each other persisted until 1989 . 1970 – 1981 : Wings . After the Beatles ' break - up in 1970 , McCartney continued his musical career with his first solo release , " McCartney " , a US number - one album . Apart from some vocal contributions from Linda , " McCartney " is a one - man album , with Paul providing compositions , instrumentation and vocals . In 1971 , he collaborated with Linda and drummer Denny Seiwell on a second album , " Ram " . A UK number one and a US top five , " Ram " included the co - written US number - one hit single " Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey " . Later that year , ex - Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine joined the McCartneys and Seiwell to form the band Wings . McCartney had this to say on the groups ' s formation : " Wings were always a difficult idea . . . any group having to follow [ the Beatles ' ] success would have a hard job . . . I found myself in that very position . However , it was a choice between going on or finishing , and I loved music too much to think of stopping . " In September 1971 , the McCartneys ' daughter Stella was born , named in honour of Linda ' s grandmothers , both of whom were named Stella . Following the addition of guitarist Henry McCullough , Wings ' first concert tour began in 1972 with a debut performance in front of an audience of seven hundred at the University of Nottingham . Ten more dates followed as they travelled across the UK in a van during an unannounced tour of universities , during which the band stayed in modest accommodation and received pay in coin age collected from students , while avoiding Beatles songs during their performances . A seven - week , 25 - show tour of Europe followed , during which the band played solely Wings and McCartney solo material with the exception of a few covers , including the Little Richard hit " Long Tall Sally " , the only song McCartney played during the tour that had previously been recorded by the Beatles . McCartney wanted the tour to avoid large venues ; most of the small halls they played had capacities of fewer than 3 , 000 people . Of his first two post - Beatles tours , McCartney said , " The main thing I didn ' t want was to come on stage , faced with the whole torment of five rows of press people with little pads , all looking at me and saying , ' Oh well , he is not as good as he was . ' So we decided to go out on that university tour which made me less nervous . . . by the end of that tour I felt ready for something else , so we went into Europe . " In March 1973 , Wings achieved their first US number - one single , " My Love " , included on their second LP , " Red Rose Speedway " , a US number one and UK top five . Paul ' s collaboration with Linda and former Beatles producer Martin resulted in the song " Live and Let Die " , which was the theme song for the James Bond film of the same name . Nominated for an Academy Award , the song reached number two in the US and number nine in the UK . It also earned Martin a Grammy for his orchestral arrangement . Music professor and author Vincent Benitez described the track as " symphonic rock at its best " . After the departure of McCullough and Seiwell in 1973 , the McCartneys and Laine recorded " Band on the Run " . The album was the first of seven platinum Wings LPs . It was a US and UK number one , the band ' s first to top the charts in both countries and the first ever to reach " Billboard " magazine ' s charts on three separate occasions . One of the best - selling releases of the decade , it remained on the UK charts for 124 weeks . " Rolling Stone " named it Album of the Year for 1974 , and in 1975 it won Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary / Pop Vocal and Best Engineered Album . In 1974 , Wings achieved a second US number - one single with the title track . The album also included the top - ten hits " Jet " and " Helen Wheels " , and earned the 413th spot on " Rolling Stone ' s " list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . Wings followed " Band on the Run " with the chart - topping albums " Venus and Mars " ( 1975 ) and " Wings at the Speed of Sound " ( 1976 ) . In 1975 , they began the fourteen - month Wings Over the World Tour , which included stops in the UK , Australia , Europe and the US . The tour marked the first time McCartney performed Beatles songs live with Wings , with five in the two - hour set list : " I ' ve Just Seen a Face " , " Yesterday " , " Blackbird " , " Lady Madonna " and " The Long and Winding Road " . Following the second European leg of the tour and extensive rehearsals in London , the group undertook an ambitious US arena tour that yielded the US number - one live triple LP " Wings over America " . In September 1977 , the McCartneys had a third child , a son they named James . In November , the Wings song " Mull of Kintyre " , co - written with Laine , was quickly becoming one of the best - selling singles in UK chart history . The most successful single of McCartney ' s solo career , it achieved double the sales of the previous record holder , " She Loves You " , and went on to sell 2 . 5 million copies and hold the UK sales record until the 1984 charity single , " Do They Know It ' s Christmas ? " . " London Town " ( 1978 ) spawned a US number - one single ( " With a Little Luck " ) , and was Wings ' best - selling LP since " Band on the Run " , making the top five in both the US and the UK . Critical reception was unfavourable , and McCartney expressed disappointment with the album . " Back to the Egg " ( 1979 ) featured McCartney ' s collaboration with a rock supergroup dubbed " the Rockestra " . Credited to Wings , the band included Pete Townshend , David Gilmour , Gary Brooker , John Paul Jones and John Bonham . Though certified platinum , critics panned " Back to the Egg " . Wings completed their final concert tour in 1979 , with twenty shows in the UK that included the live debut of the Beatles songs " Got to Get You into My Life " , " The Fool on the Hill " and " Let it Be " . In 1980 , McCartney released his second solo LP , the self - produced " McCartney II " , which peaked at number one in the UK and number three in the US . As with his first album , he composed and performed it alone . The album contained the song " Coming Up " , the live version of which , recorded in Glasgow , Scotland , in 1979 by Wings , became the group ' s last number - one hit . By 1981 , McCartney felt he had accomplished all he could creatively with Wings and decided he needed a change . The group disbanded in April 1981 following disagreements over royalties and salaries . 1982 – 1990 . In 1982 McCartney collaborated with Stevie Wonder on the Martin - produced number - one hit " Ebony and Ivory " , included on McCartney ' s " Tug of War " LP , and with Michael Jackson on " The Girl Is Mine " from " Thriller " . The following year , he and Jackson worked on " Say Say Say " , McCartney ' s most recent US number one . McCartney earned his latest UK number one with the title track of his LP release that year , " Pipes of Peace " . In 1984 , McCartney starred in the musical " Give My Regards to Broad Street " , a feature film he also wrote and produced which included Starr in an acting role . Disparaged by critics , " Variety " described the film as " characterless , bloodless , and pointless " . Roger Ebert awarded it a single star and wrote , " you can safely skip the movie and proceed directly to the soundtrack " . The album fared much better , reaching number one in the UK and producing the US top - ten hit single " No More Lonely Nights " , featuring David Gilmour on lead guitar . In 1985 , Warner Brothers commissioned McCartney to write a song for the comedic feature film " Spies Like Us " . He composed and recorded the track in four days , with Phil Ramone co - producing . McCartney participated in Live Aid , performing " Let it Be " , but technical difficulties rendered his vocals and piano barely audible for the first two verses , punctuated by squeals of feedback . Equipment technicians resolved the problems and David Bowie , Alison Moyet , Pete Townshend and Bob Geldof joined McCartney on stage , receiving an enthusiastic crowd reaction . McCartney collaborated with Eric Stewart on " Press to Play " ( 1986 ) , with Stewart co - writing more than half the songs on the LP . In 1988 , McCartney released " Снова в СССР " , released only in the Soviet Union , which contained eighteen covers ; recorded over the course of two days . In 1989 , he joined forces with fellow Merseyside rs Gerry Marsden and Holly Johnson to record an updated version of " Ferry Cross the Mersey " , for the Hillsborough disaster appeal fund . That same year , he released " Flowers in the Dirt " ; a collaborative effort with Elvis Costello that included musical contributions from Gilmour and Nicky Hopkins . McCartney then formed a band consisting of himself and Linda , with Hamish Stuart and Robbie McIntosh on guitars , Paul " Wix " Wickens on keyboards and Chris Whitten on drums . In September 1989 , they launched the Paul McCartney World Tour , his first in over a decade . The following year , he released the triple album , " Tripping the Live Fantastic " , which contained select performances from the tour . In 1990 , the US publication " Amusement Business " presented McCartney with an award for the highest grossing show of the year ; his two performances at Berkeley earned over $ 3 . 5 million . He performed for the largest paying stadium audience in history on 21 April 1990 , when 184 , 000 people attended his concert at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil . 1991 – 2000 . McCartney ventured into orchestral music in 1991 , when the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commissioned a musical piece by him to celebrate its sesquicentennial . He collaborated with composer Carl Davis , producing " Liverpool Oratorio " . The performance featured opera singers Kiri Te Kanawa , Sally Burgess , Jerry Hadley and Willard White , with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir of Liverpool Cathedral . Reviews were negative . " The Guardian " was especially critical , describing the music as " afraid of anything approaching a fast tempo " , and adding that the piece has " little awareness of the need for recurrent ideas that will bind the work into a whole " . The paper published a letter McCartney submitted in response in which he stated , " happily , history shows that many good pieces of music were not liked by the critics of the time so I am content to . . . let people judge for themselves the merits of the work . " " The New York Times " was slightly more generous , stating , " There are moments of beauty and pleasure in this dramatic miscellany . . . the music ' s innocent sincerity makes it difficult to be put off by its ambitions " . Performed around the world after its London premiere , the " Liverpool Oratorio " reached number one on the UK classical chart , " Music Week " . In 1991 , McCartney performed a selection of acoustic - only songs on " MTV Unplugged " and released a live album of the performance titled " Unplugged ( The Official Bootleg ) " . During the 1990s , McCartney collaborated twice with Youth of Killing Joke as the musical duo " the Fireman " . The two released their first electronica album together , " Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest " , in 1993 . McCartney released the rock album , " Off the Ground " , in 1993 . The subsequent New World Tour followed , which led to the release of the " Paul Is Live " album later that year . Starting in 1994 , McCartney took a four - year break from his solo career to work on Apple ' s " Beatles Anthology " project with Harrison , Starr and Martin . He recorded a radio series called " Oobu Joobu " in 1995 for the American network Westwood One , which he described as " widescreen radio " . Also in 1995 , Prince Charles presented him with an Honorary Fellow ship of the Royal College of Music — " kind of amazing for somebody who doesn ' t read a note of music " , commented McCartney . In March 1997 , Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for services to music . In 1997 , McCartney released the rock album " Flaming Pie " . Starr appeared on drums and backing vocals in " Beautiful Night " . Later that year , he released the classical work " Standing Stone " , which topped the UK and US classical charts . In 1998 , he released " Rushes " , the second electronica album by the Fireman . In 1999 , McCartney released " Run Devil Run " . Recorded in one week , and featuring Ian Paice and David Gilmour , it was primarily an album of covers with three McCartney originals . He had been planning such an album for years , having been previously encouraged to do so by Linda , who had died of cancer in April 1998 . In 1999 , he continued his experimentation with orchestral music on " Working Classical " . In 2000 , he released the electronica album " Liverpool Sound Collage " with Super Furry Animals and Youth , using the sound collage and musique concrète techniques that had fascinated him in the mid - 1960s . He contributed the song " Nova " to a tribute album of classical , choral music called " A Garland for Linda " ( 2000 ) , dedicated to his late wife . 2000 – 2010 . Having witnessed the 11 September 2001 attacks from the JFK airport tarmac , McCartney was inspired to take a leading role in organising the Concert for New York City . His studio album release in November that year , " Driving Rain " , included the song " Freedom " , written in response to the attacks . The following year , McCartney went out on tour with a band that included guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray , accompanied by Paul " Wix " Wickens on keyboards and Abe Laboriel , Jr . on drums . They began the Driving World Tour in April 2002 , which included stops in the US , Mexico and Japan . The tour resulted in the double live album " Back in the U . S . " , released internationally in 2003 as " Back in the World " . The tour earned a reported $ 126 . 2 million , an average of over $ 2 million per night , and Billboard named it the top tour of the year . In July 2002 , McCartney married Heather Mills . In November , on the first anniversary of George Harrison ' s death , McCartney performed at the Concert for George . He participated in the National Football League ' s Super Bowl , performing " Freedom " during the pre - game show for Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 and headlining the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005 . The English College of Arms honoured McCartney in 2002 by granting him a coat of arms . His crest , featuring a Liver Bird holding an acoustic guitar in its claw , reflects his background in Liverpool and his musical career . The shield includes four curved emblems which resemble beetle s ' backs . The arms ' motto is " Ecce Cor Meum " , Latin for " Behold My Heart " . In 2003 , the McCartneys had a child , Beatrice Milly . In July 2005 , he performed at the Live 8 event in Hyde Park , London , opening the show with " Sgt . Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band " ( with U2 ) and closing it with " Drive My Car " ( with George Michael ) , " Helter Skelter " , and " The Long and Winding Road " . In September , he released the rock album " Chaos and Creation in the Backyard " , for which he provided most of the instrumentation . In 2006 , McCartney released the classical work " Ecce Cor Meum " . The rock album " Memory Almost Full " followed in 2007 . In 2008 , he released his third Fireman album , " Electric Arguments " . Also in 2008 , he performed at a concert in Liverpool to celebrate the city ' s year as European Capital of Culture . In 2009 , after a four - year break , he returned to touring and has since performed over 80 shows . More than forty - five years after the Beatles first appeared on American television during " The Ed Sullivan Show " , he returned to the same New York theatre to perform on " Late Show with David Letterman " . On 9 September 2009 , EMI reissued the Beatles catalogue following a four - year digital remastering effort , releasing a music video game called " " the same day . McCartney ' s enduring fame has made him a popular choice to open new venues . In 2009 , he played three sold - out concerts at the newly built Citi Field — a venue constructed to replace Shea Stadium in Queens , New York . These performances yielded the double live album " Good Evening New York City " later that year . In 2010 , McCartney opened the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . 2011 – present . In July 2011 , McCartney played two sold - out concerts at the new Yankee Stadium . A " New York Times " review of the first concert reported that McCartney was " not saying goodbye but touring stadiums and playing marathon concerts . " In September 2011 , having been commissioned by the New York City Ballet , McCartney released his first score for dance , a collaboration with Peter Martins called " Ocean ' s Kingdom " . Also in 2011 , McCartney married Nancy Shevell . He released " Kisses on the Bottom " , a collection of standards , in February 2012 ; that same month the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences honoured him as the MusiCares Person of the Year , two days prior to his performance at the 54th Grammy Awards . , McCartney remains one of the world ' s top draws . He played to over 100 , 000 people total during two performances in Mexico City in May , the shows grossing nearly $ 6 million . In June 2012 , McCartney closed Queen Elizabeth ' s Diamond Jubilee Concert held outside Buckingham Palace , performing a set that included " Let It Be " and " Live and Let Die " . He closed the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London on 27 July , singing " The End " and " Hey Jude " and inviting the audience to join in on the coda . Having donated his time , he received £1 from the Olympic organisers . On 12 December , McCartney performed , supported by Krist Novoselic , Dave Grohl , and Pat Smear ( all former members of Nirvana ) , the closing act of , seen by approximately two billion people worldwide . Musicianship . Largely a self - taught musician , McCartney ' s approach was described by musicologist Ian MacDonald as " by nature drawn to music ' s formal aspects yet wholly untutored . . . [ he ] produced technically ' finished ' work almost entirely by instinct , his harmonic judgement based mainly on perfect pitch and an acute pair of ears . . . [ A ] natural melodist — a creator of tunes capable of existing apart from their harmony " . McCartney commented , " I prefer to think of my approach to music as . . . rather like the primitive cave artists , who drew without training . " Bass guitar . McCartney ' s skill as a bass player has been acknowledged by other bassists , including Sting , Dr . Dre bassist Mike Elizondo , and Colin Moulding of XTC . Best known for primarily using a plectrum or pick , McCartney occasionally plays fingerstyle . He does not use slapping or muting techniques . He was strongly influenced by Motown artists , in particular James Jamerson , who McCartney called a hero for his melodic style . He was also influenced by Brian Wilson , as he commented : " because he went to very unusual places " . Another favourite bassist of his is Stanley Clarke . During McCartney ' s early years with the Beatles , he primarily used a Höfner 500 / 1 bass , though in 1965 , he began sporadically using a Rickenbacker 4001 S for recording . While typically using Vox amplifiers , by 1967 he had also begun using a Fender Bassman for amplification . During the late 1980s and early 1990s , he used a Wal 5 - String , which he said made him play more thick - sounding bassline s , in contrast to the much lighter Höfner , which inspired him to play more sensitively , something he considers fundamental to his playing style . He changed back to the Höfner around 1990 for that reason . He uses Mesa Boogie bass amplifiers while performing live . MacDonald identified " She ' s a Woman " as the turning point when McCartney ' s bass playing began to evolve dramatically , and Beatles biographer Chris Ingham singled out " Rubber Soul " as the moment when McCartney ' s playing exhibited significant progress , particularly on " The Word " . Bacon and Morgan agreed , calling McCartney ' s groove on the track " a high point in pop bass playing and . . . the first proof on a recording of his serious technical ability on the instrument . " MacDonald inferred the influence of James Brown ' s " Papa ' s Got a Brand New Bag " and Pickett ' s " In the Midnight Hour " , American soul tracks from which McCartney absorbed elements and drew inspiration as he " delivered his most spontaneous bass - part to date " . Bacon and Morgan described his bassline for the Beatles song " Rain " as " an astonishing piece of playing . . . [ McCartney ] thinking in terms of both rhythm and ' lead bass ' . . . [ choosing ] the area of the neck . . . he correctly perceives will give him clarity for melody without rendering his sound too thin for groove . " MacDonald considered the track the Beatles ' best B - side , stating that its " clangorously saturated texture resonates around McCartney ' s [ bassline ] " , which MacDonald described as " so inventive that it threatens to overwhelm the track " . MacDonald also indicated the influence of Indian classical music in " exotic melisma s in the bass part " . McCartney identified " Sgt . Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band " as containing his strongest and most inventive bass playing , particularly on " Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds " . Acoustic guitar . McCartney primarily flatpicks while playing acoustic guitar , though he also uses elements of fingerpicking . Examples of his acoustic guitar playing on Beatles tracks include " Yesterday " , " I ' m Looking Through You " , " Michelle " , " Blackbird " , " I Will " , " Mother Nature ' s Son " and " Rocky Raccoon " . McCartney singled out " Blackbird " as a personal favourite and described his technique for the guitar part in the following way : " I got my own little sort of cheating way of [ fingerpicking ] . . . I ' m actually sort of pulling two strings at a time . . . I was trying to emulate those folk players . " He employed a similar technique for " Jenny Wren " . He played an Epiphone Texan on many of his acoustic recordings , but also used a Martin D - 28 . Electric guitar . McCartney played lead electric guitar on several Beatles recordings , including what MacDonald described as a " fiercely angular slide guitar solo " on " Drive My Car " , which McCartney played on an Epiphone Casino . McCartney said of the instrument , " if I had to pick one electric guitar it would be this . " He contributed what MacDonald described as " a startling guitar solo " on the Harrison composition " Taxman " and the " shrieking " guitar on " Sgt . Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band " and " Helter Skelter " . MacDonald also praised McCartney ' s " coruscating pseudo - Indian " guitar solo on " Good Morning Good Morning " . McCartney also played lead guitar on " Another Girl " . On his " Taxman " solo , McCartney commented , " I was very inspired by Jimi Hendrix . It was really my first voyage into feedback . " In 1990 , when asked who his favourite guitar players were he included Eddie Van Halen , Eric Clapton and David Gilmour , stating , " but I still like Hendrix the best . " He has primarily used a Gibson Les Paul for electric work , particularly during live performances . Vocals . McCartney ' s vocals cross several musical genres . On " Call Me Back Again " , according to Benitez , " McCartney shines as a blues y solo vocalist " while MacDonald called " I ' m Down " " a rock - and - roll classic " that " illustrates McCartney ' s vocal and stylistic versatility " . MacDonald described " Helter Skelter " as an early attempt at heavy metal , and " Hey Jude " as a " pop / rock hybrid " , pointing out McCartney ' s " use of gospel - style melisma s " in the song and his " pseudo - soul shrieking in the fade - out " . Benitez identified " Hope of Deliverance " and " Put It There " as examples of McCartney ' s folk music efforts while musicologist Walter Everett considered " When I ' m Sixty - Four " and " Honey Pie " attempts at vaudeville . MacDonald praised the " swinging beat " of the Beatles ' twenty - four bar blues song , " She ' s a Woman " as " the most extreme sound they had manufactured to date " , with McCartney ' s voice " at the edge , squeezed to the upper limit of his chest register and threatening to crack at any moment . " MacDonald described " I ' ve Got a Feeling " as a " raunchy , mid - tempo rocker " with a " robust and soulful " vocal performance and " Back in the U . S . S . R . " as " the last of [ the Beatles ' ] up - tempo rockers " , McCartney ' s " belting " vocals among his best since " Drive My Car " , recorded three years earlier . Keyboards . McCartney played piano on several Beatles songs , including " Every Little Thing " , " She ' s a Woman " , " For No One " , " A Day in the Life " , " Hello , Goodbye " , " Hey Jude " , " Lady Madonna " , " Let It Be " and " The Long and Winding Road " . MacDonald considered the piano part in " Lady Madonna " as reminiscent of Fats Domino , and " Let It Be " as having a gospel rhythm . MacDonald called McCartney ' s Mellotron intro on " Strawberry Fields Forever " an integral feature of the song ' s character . McCartney played a Moog synthesizer on the Beatles song " Maxwell ' s Silver Hammer " and the Wings track " Loup ( 1st Indian on the Moon ) " . Ingham described the Wings songs " With a Little Luck " and " London Town " as " full of the most sensitive pop synthesizer touches " . Drums . McCartney played drums on the Beatles ' songs " Back in the U . S . S . R . " , " Dear Prudence " , " Martha My Dear " , " Wild Honey Pie " and " The Ballad of John and Yoko " . He also played all the drum parts on his first and second solo albums " McCartney " and " McCartney II " , as well as on the Wings album " Band on the Run " and most of the drums on his solo LP " Chaos and Creation in the Backyard " . Tape loops . In the mid - 1960s , when visiting artist friend John Dunbar ' s flat in London , McCartney brought tapes he had compiled at then - girlfriend Jane Asher ' s home . They included mixes of various songs , musical pieces and comments made by McCartney that Dick James made into a demo for him . Heavily influenced by American avant - garde musician John Cage , McCartney made tape loops by recording voices , guitars and bongos on a Brenell tape recorder and splicing the various loops . He referred to the finished product as " electronic symphonies " . He reversed the tapes , and speeded them up and slowed them down to create the desired effects , some of which the Beatles later used on the songs " Tomorrow Never Knows " and " The Fool on the Hill " . Early influences . McCartney ' s earliest musical influences include Little Richard , Elvis Presley , Buddy Holly , Carl Perkins , and Chuck Berry . When asked why the Beatles did not include Presley on the " Sgt . Pepper " cover , McCartney replied , " Elvis was too important and too far above the rest even to mention . . . so we didn ' t put him on the list because he was more than merely a . . . pop singer , he was Elvis the King . " McCartney stated that for his bassline for " I Saw Her Standing There " , he directly quoted Berry ' s " I ' m Talking About You " . McCartney called Little Richard an idol , whose falsetto vocalizations inspired McCartney ' s own vocal technique . McCartney said he wrote " I ' m Down " as a vehicle for his Little Richard impersonation . In 1971 , McCartney bought the publishing rights to Holly ' s catalogue , and in 1976 , on the fortieth anniversary of Holly ' s birth , McCartney inaugurated the annual " Buddy Holly Week " in England . The festival has included guest performances by famous musicians , songwriting competitions , drawing contests and special events featuring performances by the Crickets . Lifestyle . Creative outlets . While at school during the 1950s , McCartney thrived at art assignments , often earning top accolades for his visual work . However , his lack of discipline negatively affected his academic grades , preventing him from earning admission to art college . During the 1960s , he delved into the visual arts , explored experimental cinema , and regularly attended film , theatrical and classical music performances . His first contact with the London avant - garde scene was through artist John Dunbar , who introduced McCartney to art dealer Robert Fraser . At Fraser ' s flat he first learned about art appreciation and met Andy Warhol , Claes Oldenburg , Peter Blake , and Richard Hamilton . McCartney later purchased works by Magritte , using his painting of an apple for the Apple Records logo . McCartney became involved in the renovation and publicising of the Indica Gallery in Mason ' s Yard , London , which Barry Miles had co - founded and where Lennon first met Yoko Ono . Miles also co - founded " International Times " , an underground paper that McCartney helped to start with direct financial support and by providing interviews to attract advertiser income . Miles later wrote McCartney ' s official biography , " Many Years From Now " ( 1997 ) . McCartney became interested in painting after watching artist Willem de Kooning work in de Kooning ' s Long Island studio . McCartney took up painting in 1983 , and he first exhibited his work in Siegen , Germany , in 1999 . The 70 - painting show featured portraits of Lennon , Andy Warhol and David Bowie . Though initially reluctant to display his paintings publicly , McCartney chose the gallery because events organiser Wolfgang Suttner showed genuine interest in McCartney ' s art . In September 2000 , the first UK exhibition of McCartney ' s paintings opened , featuring 500 canvases at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol , England . In October 2000 , McCartney ' s art debuted in his hometown of Liverpool . McCartney said , " I ' ve been offered an exhibition of my paintings at the Walker Art Gallery . . . 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 " . McCartney is lead patron of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts , a school in the building formerly occupied by the Liverpool Institute for Boys . When McCartney was a child , his mother read him poems and encouraged him to read books . His father invited Paul and his brother Michael to solve crosswords with him , so as to increase their " word power " , as McCartney said . In 2001 , McCartney published " Blackbird Singing " , a volume of poems and lyrics to his songs for which he gave readings in Liverpool and New York City . In the foreword of the book , he explains : " When I was a teenager . . . I had an overwhelming desire to have a poem published in the school magazine . I wrote something deep and meaningful — which was promptly rejected — and I suppose I have been trying to get my own back ever since " . In 2005 , he released " High in the Clouds : An Urban Furry Tail " , a collaboration with author Philip Ardagh and animator Geoff Dunbar that " The Guardian " labelled an " anti - capitalist children ' s book " . In 1981 , McCartney asked Geoff Dunbar to direct a short animated film called " Rupert and the Frog Song " ; McCartney was the writer and producer , and he also added some of the character voices . In 1992 , he worked with Dunbar on an animated film about the work of French artist Honoré Daumier , which won them a BAFTA award . In 2004 , they worked together on the animated short film " Tropic Island Hum " . The accompanying single , " Tropic Island Hum " / " We All Stand Together " , reached number 21 in the UK . McCartney also produced and hosted " The Real Buddy Holly Story " , a 1985 documentary featuring interviews with Keith Richards , Phil and Don Everly , the Holly family , and others . In 1995 , he made a guest appearance on the " Simpsons " episode " Lisa the Vegetarian " and directed a short documentary about the Grateful Dead . Business . McCartney is one of the UK ' s wealthiest people , with an estimated fortune of £475 million in 2010 . In addition to an interest in Apple Corps and MPL Communications , an umbrella company for his business interests , he owns a significant music publishing catalogue , with access to over 25 , 000 copyrights , including the publishing rights to the musicals " Guys and Dolls " , " A Chorus Line " , " Annie " and " Grease " . He earned £40 million in 2003 , the highest income that year within media professions in the UK . This rose to £48 . 5 million by 2005 . McCartney ' s music has appeared on several record label s . In January 1962 , Polydor Records issued the first commercially released recording of the Beatles , a single called " My Bonnie " . Credited to Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers , Decca Records issued the track in the UK in April 1962 . The following year , Parlophone released the band ' s singles " Please Please Me " / " Ask Me Why " and " From Me to You " / " Thank You Girl " in the UK . Vee - Jay Records released them in the US . Also that year , Swan Records released the group ' s UK Parlophone single " She Loves You " / " I ' ll Get You " in the US . From then until July 1968 , EMI ' s Capitol ( US ) and Parlophone ( UK ) labels released the band ' s music . Starting with the August 1968 release " Hey Jude " / " Revolution " , their new material would be issued with Apple label s , logos and sleeves , but with Parlophone or Capitol serial numbers . Following the break - up of the Beatles , McCartney ' s music continued to be released by Apple Records under the Beatles ' 1967 recording contract with EMI which ran until 1976 . Following the formal dissolution of the Beatles ' partnership in 1975 , McCartney re - signed with EMI worldwide and Capitol in the US and Canada . In 1979 , McCartney signed with Columbia Records in the US and Canada reportedly receiving the industry ' s most lucrative recording contract to date , while remaining with EMI for distribution throughout the rest of the world . McCartney returned to Capitol in 1985 and from 1985 until 2006 , Parlophone released McCartney ' s music in the UK and Capitol in the US . In 2007 , McCartney signed with Hear Music , becoming the label ' s first artist . He remains there ' s " Kisses on the Bottom " . In 1963 , Dick James established Northern Songs to publish the songs of Lennon – McCartney . McCartney initially owned 20 % of Northern Songs , which became 15 % after a public stock offering in 1965 . In 1969 , James sold a controlling interest in Northern Songs to Lew Grade ' s Associated Television ( ATV ) after which McCartney and John Lennon sold their remaining shares although they remained under contract to ATV until 1973 . In 1972 , McCartney re - signed with ATV for seven years in a joint publishing agreement between ATV and McCartney Music . Since 1979 , MPL Communications has published McCartney ' s songs . McCartney and Yoko Ono attempted to purchase the Northern Songs catalogue in 1981 , but Grade declined their offer and decided to sell ATV in its entirety to businessman Robert Holmes à Court . Michael Jackson subsequently purchased ATV in 1985 . In 1995 , Jackson merged his catalogue with Sony for a reported £59 , 052 , 000 ( $ 95 million ) , establishing Sony / ATV Music Publishing , in which he retained half - ownership . McCartney has criticised Jackson ' s purchase and handling of Northern Songs over the years . Now formally dissolved , in 1995 it became absorbed in the Sony / ATV catalogue . McCartney receives writers ' royalties which together are 33⅓ percent of total commercial proceeds in the US , and which vary elsewhere between 50 and 55 percent . Two of the Beatles ' earliest songs — " Love Me Do " and " P . S . I Love You " — were published by an EMI subsidiary , Ardmore & Beechwood , before signing with James . McCartney acquired their publishing rights from Ardmore in the mid - 1980s , and they are the only two Beatles songs owned by MPL Communications . Drugs . McCartney first used drugs in the Beatles ' Hamburg days , when they often used Preludin to maintain their energy while performing for long periods . Bob Dylan introduced them to marijuana in a New York hotel room in 1964 ; McCartney recalls getting " very high " and " giggling uncontrollably " . His use of the drug soon became habitual , and according to Miles , McCartney wrote the lyrics " another kind of mind " in " Got to Get You into My Life " specifically as a reference to cannabis . During the filming of " Help ! " , McCartney occasionally smoked a joint in the car on the way to the studio during filming , and often forgot his lines . Director Richard Lester overheard two physically attractive women trying to persuade McCartney to use heroin , but he refused . Introduced to cocaine by Robert Fraser , McCartney used the drug regularly during the recording of " Sgt . Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band " , and for about a year total but stopped because of his dislike of the unpleasant melancholy he felt afterwards . Initially reluctant to try LSD , McCartney eventually did so in late 1966 , and took his second " acid trip " in March 1967 , with Lennon , after a " Sgt . Pepper " studio session . He later became the first Beatle to discuss the drug publicly , declaring , " It opened my eyes . . . [ and ] made me a better , more honest , more tolerant member of society . " He made his attitude about cannabis public in 1967 , when he , along with the other Beatles and Epstein , added his name to a July advertisement in " The Times " , which called for its legalisation , the release of those imprisoned for possession , and research into marijuana ' s medical uses . In 1972 , a Swedish court fined McCartney £1 , 000 for cannabis possession . Soon after , Scottish police found marijuana plants growing on his farm , leading to his 1973 conviction for illegal cultivation and a £100 fine . As a result of his drug convictions , the US government repeatedly denied him a visa until December 1973 . Arrested again for marijuana possession in 1975 , in Los Angeles , Linda took the blame , and the court soon dismissed the charges . In January 1980 , when Wings flew to Tokyo for a tour of Japan , customs officials found approximately 8 ounces ( 200 g ) of cannabis in his luggage . They arrested McCartney and brought him to a local jail while the Japanese government decided what to do . After ten days , they released and deported him without charge . In 1984 , while on holiday in Barbados , authorities arrested McCartney for possession of marijuana and fined him $ 200 . Upon his return to England , he stated : " cannabis is . . . less harmful than rum punch , whiskey , nicotine and glue , all of which are perfectly legal . . . I don ' t think . . . I was doing anyone any harm whatsoever . " In 1997 , he spoke out in support of decriminalisation of the drug : " People are smoking pot anyway and to make them criminals is wrong . " In 2013 , he officially endorsed the decriminalisation of marijuana . Vegetarianism and activism . Paul and Linda were vegetarians for most of their 30 - year marriage . They decided to stop consuming meat after Paul saw lambs in a field as they were eating a meal of lamb . Soon after , the couple became outspoken animal rights activists . In his first interview after Linda ' s death , he promised to continue working for animal rights , and in 1999 he spent £3 , 000 , 000 to ensure Linda McCartney Foods remained free of genetically engineered ingredients . In 1995 , he narrated the documentary " Devour the Earth " , written by Tony Wardle . McCartney is a supporter of the animal - rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals . He has appeared in the group ' s campaigns and , in 2009 , he narrated a short factory farm exposé titled " Glass Walls . " McCartney has also supported campaigns headed by the Humane Society of the United States , Humane Society International , the World Society for the Protection of Animals , and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation . Following McCartney ' s marriage to Mills , he joined her in a campaign against landmine s , becoming a patron of Adopt - A - Minefield . He wore an anti - landmines T - shirt during some of the Back in the World tour shows . In 2006 , the McCartneys travelled to Prince Edward Island to raise international awareness of seal hunt ing . The couple debated with Danny Williams , Newfoundland ' s then Premier , on " Larry King Live " , stating that fishermen should stop hunting seals and start seal - watching businesses instead . McCartney also supports the Make Poverty History campaign . McCartney has participated in several charity recordings and performances , including the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea , Ferry Aid , Band Aid , Live Aid and the recording of " Ferry Cross the Mersey " . 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 . In 2008 , he donated a song to Aid Still Required ' s CD , organised as an effort to raise funds to assist with the recovery from the devastation caused in Southeast Asia by the 2004 tsunami . In 2009 , McCartney wrote to Tenzin Gyatso , the 14th Dalai Lama , asking him why he was not a vegetarian . As McCartney explained , " He wrote back very kindly , saying , my doctors tell me that I must eat meat . And I wrote back again , saying , you know , I don ' t think that ' s right . . . I think he ' s now being told . . . that he can get his protein somewhere else . . . It just doesn ' t seem right – the Dalai Lama , on the one hand , saying , ' Hey guys , don ' t harm sentient beings . . . Oh , and by the way , I ' m having a steak . ' " On the eve of the 2012 U . S . Presidential Election , McCartney issued a video endorsement of President Barack Obama . Meditation . In 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 , where he and the other Beatles learned the basics of Transcendental Meditation . He explained , " The whole meditation experience was very good and I still use the mantra . . . I find it soothing " . In 2009 , McCartney and 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 . Football . McCartney has publicly professed support for Everton , and also shown favour for Liverpool . In 2008 , he 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 . ' " Personal relationships . Girlfriends . Dot Rhone . McCartney ' s first serious girlfriend in Liverpool was Dot Rhone , whom he met at the Casbah club in 1959 . According to Spitz , Rhone felt that McCartney had a compulsion to control situations . He often chose clothes and make - up for her , encouraging her to grow her hair out like Brigitte Bardot ' s , and at least once insisting she have it re - styled , to disappointing effect . When McCartney first went to Hamburg with the Beatles , he wrote to Rhone regularly , and she accompanied Cynthia Lennon to Hamburg when they played there again in 1962 . The couple had a two - and - a - half - year relationship , and were due to marry until Rhone ' s miscarriage ; according to Spitz , McCartney , now " free of obligation " , ended the engagement . Jane Asher . McCartney first met British actress Jane Asher on 18 April 1963 , when a photographer asked them to pose at a Beatles performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London . The two began a relationship , and in November of that year he took up residence with Asher at her parents ' home at 57 Wimpole Street , London . They had lived there for more than two years before the couple moved to McCartney ' s own home in St . John ' s Wood , in March 1966 . He wrote several songs while living at the Ashers ' , including " Yesterday " , " And I Love Her " , " You Won ' t See Me " and " I ' m Looking Through You " , the latter three having been inspired by their romance . They had a five - year relationship and planned to marry , but Asher broke off the engagement after she discovered he had become involved with Francie Schwartz . Wives . Linda Eastman . Linda Eastman was a music fan who once commented , " all my teen years were spent with an ear to the radio . " At times , she skipped school to see artists such as Fabian , Bobby Darin and Chuck Berry . She became a popular photographer with several rock groups , including the Jimi Hendrix Experience , the Grateful Dead , the Doors and the Beatles , whom she first met at Shea Stadium in 1966 . She commented , " It was John who interested me at the start . He was my Beatle hero . But when I met him the fascination faded fast , and I found it was Paul I liked . " The pair first properly met in 1967 at a Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O ' Nails club , during her UK assignment to photograph rock musicians in London . As Paul remembers , " The night Linda and I met , I spotted her across a crowded club , and although I would normally have been nervous chatting her up , I realised I had to . . . Pushiness worked for me that night ! " Linda said this about their meeting : " I was quite shameless really . I was with somebody else [ that night ] . . . and I saw Paul at the other side of the room . He looked so beautiful that I made up my mind I would have to pick him up . " The pair married in 1969 . About their relationship , Paul said , " We had a lot of fun together . . . just the nature of how we are , our favourite thing really is to just hang , to have fun . And Linda ' s very big on just following the moment . " He added , " We were crazy . We had a big argument the night before we got married , and it was nearly called off . . . [ it ' s ] miraculous that we made it . But we did . " The two collaborated musically after the Beatles ' break - up , forming Wings in 1971 . They faced derision from some fans and critics , who questioned her inclusion . She was nervous about performing with Paul , who explained , " she conquered those nerves , got on with it and was really gutsy . " Paul defended her musical ability : " I taught Linda the basics of the keyboard . . . She took a couple lessons and learned some bluesy things . . . she did very well and made it look easier than it was . . . The critics would say , ' She ' s not really playing ' or ' Look at her — she ' s playing with one finger . ' But what they didn ' t know is that sometimes she was playing a thing called a Minimoog , which could only be played with one finger . It was monophonic . " He went on to say , " We thought we were in it for the fun . . . it was just something we wanted to do , so if we got it wrong – big deal . We didn ' t have to justify ourselves . " Former Wings guitarist McCullough said of collaborating with Linda , " trying to get things together with a learner in the group didn ' t work as far as I was concerned . " They had four children — Linda ' s daughter Heather ( legally adopted by Paul ) , Mary , Stella and James — and remained married until Linda ' s death from breast cancer in 1998 . After her death , Paul stated in " The Daily Mail " , " I got a counsellor because I knew that I would need some help . He was great , particularly in helping me get rid of my guilt [ about wishing I ' d been ] perfect all the time . . . a real bugger . But then I thought , hang on a minute . We ' re just human . That was the beautiful thing about our marriage . We were just a boyfriend and girlfriend having babies . " Heather Mills . In 2002 , McCartney married Heather Mills , a former model and anti - landmines campaigner . In 2003 , the couple had a child , Beatrice Milly , named in honour of Mills ' late mother , and one of McCartney ' s aunts . They separated in April 2006 and divorced acrimoniously in March 2008 . In 2004 , he commented on media animosity toward his partners : " [ the British public ] didn ' t like me giving up on Jane Asher . . . I married [ Linda ] , a New York divorcee with a child , and at the time they didn ' t like that " . 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 modest event attended by a group of about 30 relatives and friends . The couple had been dating since November 2007 . She is vice president of a family - owned transportation conglomerate which owns New England Motor Freight . Shevell is a former member of the board of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority . Beatles . John Lennon . 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 . While McCartney would often phone , he 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 , the two were watching an episode of " Saturday Night Live " together at Lennon ' s home in New York City , during which 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 ; he said this about the call : " [ 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 . " Reaction to Lennon ' s murder . On 9 December 1980 , McCartney awoke to the news that Lennon had been murdered the previous night , his death creating a media frenzy around the surviving members of the band . That evening , as he was leaving an Oxford Street recording studio surrounded by reporters who asked him for his reaction , he responded : " It ' s a drag " . The press quickly criticised him for what appeared to be a superficial response . He later 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 . " He described his first exchange with Ono after the murder , and his last conversation with Lennon : 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 . 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 . " He said that he went home that night , watched the news on television with his children and cried most of the evening . In 1997 , he admitted the ex - Beatles were nervous at the time that they might also be murdered . He told " Mojo " magazine in 2002 that Lennon was his greatest hero . In 1981 , McCartney sang backup on Harrison ' s tribute to their ex - bandmate , " All Those Years Ago " , which featured Starr on drums . McCartney released " Here Today " in 1982 , a song Everett described as " a haunting tribute " to McCartney ' s friendship with Lennon . George Harrison . Discussing his relationship with McCartney , Harrison said , " 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 . . . There were a lot of tracks , though , where I played bass . . . because what Paul would do — if he ' d written a song , he ' d learn all the parts for Paul and then come in the studio and say ( sometimes he was very difficult ) : " Do this " . He ' d never give you the opportunity to come out with something . " After Harrison ' s death in November 2001 , McCartney issued a statement outside his home in St . John ' s Wood , calling him " a lovely guy and a very brave man who had a wonderful sense of humour " . He went on to say , " We grew up together and we just had so many beautiful times together – that ' s what I am going to remember . I ' ll always love him , he ' s my baby brother . " On the first anniversary of his death , McCartney played Harrison ' s " Something " on a ukulele at the Concert for George . He also performed " For You Blue " and " All Things Must Pass " , and played the piano on Eric Clapton ' s rendition of " While My Guitar Gently Weeps " . Ringo Starr . Starr once described McCartney as " pleasantly insincere " , though the two generally enjoy each other ' s company , and at least once went on holiday together in Greece . Starr recalled , " We couldn ' t understand a word of the songs the hotel band were playing , so on the last night Paul and I did a few rockers like " What ' d I Say " . There was at times discord between them as well , particularly during sessions for " the White Album " . As Apple ' s Peter Brown recalled , " it was a poorly kept secret among Beatle intimates that after Ringo left the studio Paul would often dub in the drum tracks himself . . . [ Starr ] would pretend not to notice " . In August 1968 , the two got into an argument over McCartney ' s critique of Starr ' s drum part for " Back in the U . S . S . R . " , which contributed to Starr temporarily leaving the band . When Starr returned in September , he found bouquets of flowers on his drum kit . Starr commented on working with McCartney : " Paul is the greatest bass player in the world . But he is also very determined . . . [ to ] get his own way . . . [ thus ] musical disagreements inevitably arose from time to time . " McCartney and Starr collaborated on several post - Beatles projects starting in 1973 , when McCartney contributed instrumentation and backing vocals for " Six O ' Clock " , a song McCartney wrote for Starr ' s album " Ringo " . McCartney played a kazoo solo on another track from the album , " You ' re Sixteen " . In 1976 , McCartney sang backing vocals on another song he wrote for Starr , " Pure Gold " , from " Ringo ' s Rotogravure " . In 1981 , McCartney produced and performed on three songs from Starr ' s " Stop and Smell the Roses " , two of which McCartney composed . Ringo appeared in the video for McCartney ' s 1983 song " So Bad " ( from the " Pipes of Peace " album ) . He would also appear the following year in an acting role in McCartney ' s film " Give My Regards to Broad Street " . Starr played drums and sang backing vocals on " Beautiful Night " from McCartney ' s 1997 album , " Flaming Pie " . The pair collaborated again in 1998 , on Starr ' s " Vertical Man " , which featured McCartney ' s backing vocals on three songs , and instrumentation on one . In 2009 , the pair performed " With a Little Help From My Friends " at a benefit concert for the David Lynch Foundation . They collaborated on Starr ' s album , " Y Not " , in 2010 . McCartney played bass on " Peace Dream " , and sang a duet with Starr on " Walk with You . On 7 July 2010 , Starr was performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York with his All - Starr Band in a concert celebrating his seventieth birthday . After the encores , McCartney made a surprise , last minute appearance , coming out and performing the Beatles ' song " Birthday " backed by members of Starr ' s band . Legacy . Achievements . Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in March 1999 , " Guinness World Records " described McCartney as " the Most Successful Composer and Recording Artist of All Time " , with 60 gold discs ( 42 with the Beatles , 17 solo and 1 with the Beatles and Billy Preston ) and sales of 100 million albums , 100 million singles , and a writer ' s credit on forty - three songs that have sold over one million copies each . According to Guinness , he is " the most successful songwriter " in UK singles chart history and " the most successful musician of all time " . He has written or co - written " 188 charted records , of which 129 are different songs . Of these records , 91 reached the Top 10 and 33 made it to number 1 . In total , the songs have spent 1 , 662 weeks in the charts ( up to the beginning of 2007 ) . " McCartney has written , or co - written 32 number - one singles on the " Billboard " Hot 100 : twenty with the Beatles ; nine solo and / or with Wings ; one as a co - writer of " A World Without Love " , a number - one single for Peter and Gordon ; one as a co - writer on Elton John ' s cover of " Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds " ; and one as a co - writer with Michael Jackson on " Say Say Say " . , he has sold 15 . 5 million RIAA certified units in the United States . Credited with more number ones in the UK than any other artist , McCartney has participated in twenty - four chart topping singles : seventeen with the Beatles , one solo , and one each with Wings , Stevie Wonder , Ferry Aid , Band Aid , Band Aid 20 and " The Christians et al . " He is the only artist to reach the UK number one as a soloist ( " Pipes of Peace " ) , duo ( " Ebony and Ivory " with 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 ) . " Yesterday " is the most covered song in history with more than 2 , 200 recorded versions , 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 . . . [ and ] is the most played song by a British writer [ last ] century in the US " . His 1968 Beatles composition , " Hey Jude " , is also a career highlight . It achieved the highest sales in the UK that year , topping the US charts for nine weeks , longer than any other Beatles single . It was also the longest single released by the band , and at seven minutes eleven seconds , the longest ever number one to that point . " Hey Jude " is the best - selling Beatles single , achieving sales of over five million copies soon after its release . In July 2005 , his performance of " Sgt . Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band " with U2 at Live 8 became the fastest - released single in history . Available within forty - five minutes of its recording , hours later it had achieved number one on the UK Official Download Chart . Awards . In 1990 , the IAU ' s Minor Planet Center named the planet 4148 , " McCartney " in his honour . In May 2000 , the British Academy of Songwriters , Composers and Authors awarded him a Fellowship . In 2008 , he received a BRIT award for Outstanding Contribution to Music , as well as an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University . In 2010 , President Barack Obama honoured McCartney with the Gershwin Prize for his contributions to popular music . He returned to the White House later that year as a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors . McCartney won two Grammy awards with Wings , and two as a solo artist . In 2012 , he became the last Beatle to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . On 8 September 2012 , during a ceremony in Paris , French President François Hollande decorated McCartney with the Légion d ' Honneur , with a rank of officer , for his services to music .