Paul McCartney Biography

Early Life

Sir James Paul McCartney was born on the 18th of June, 1942 in Liverpool, England. His father was James ‘Jim’ McCartney and his mother’s name was Mary. His father was a trumpet player and a pianist with the Jim Mac’s Jazz Band. He has a younger brother called Michael. His mother passed away when he was 14. His father encouraged Paul to take interest in music. They had a piano at home and Paul got a trumpet after his mother passed on.

He met George Harrison while studying at the Liverpool Institute.

Later on, Paul exchanged the trumpet for a guitar. Being left-handed, Paul found it very difficult to play the guitar. After seeing a poster of Slim Whitman, Paul realized that Slim, who was also left-handed, had strung his guitar the opposite way to a right-handed player.

Although he was encouraged to take music lessons, which Paul did for some time, he nevertheless preferred to ‘play by ear’ and did not pay much attention in the classes.

At 15 Paul met John Lennon and the Quarrymen at the Woolton fete and they began a close working relationship. They would often practice at Paul’s house. They even collaborated on several songs. Paul then persuaded George Harrison to join the band, who joined the group as a lead guitarist. After trying out many names, The Beatles was finally formed.

The Beatles

The Beatles began working with several clubs, chiefly the Indra Club and later the Cavern Club. Most bands back then were playing the same cover songs. So Paul urged Lennon and they began to write more original songs. In 1960 Paul bought a left-handed Hofner bass guitar, and began to play bass for the band. In 1961, the band went to Paris. The same year, they also recorded "My Bonnie".

"Love Me Do" was released in 1962 on Parlophone Records. Paul and Lennon used to write songs together and it would usually take them not more than an hour or two to do so. Paul McCartney also wrote songs for other artists such as Cilla Black, Mary Hopkin and the group Peter & Gordon. Paul enjoyed the ‘rock and roll’ lifestyle and often went to several clubs and partied till the wee hours of the morning.

It was in one such club that he met Linda Eastman. She was a press photographer and was there on assignment.

Paul had a long standing 5-year relationship with Jane Asher. He lived with her at her parents’ house for most part of their relationship. Many songs such as ‘And I Love Her’, ‘You Won’t See Me’ and ‘I’m Looking Through You’ were inspired by Jane Asher.

Paul and Jane had announced their engagement in 1967. In 1968, she accompanied Paul to India. She broke off their engagement upon their return when she discovered him in bed with another woman.

In 1969, Paul married Linda Eastman. He adopted Heather Louise, Linda’s daughter from an earlier marriage. They had 3 children: Mary Anna, Stella Nina and James Louis.

In 1966, The Beatles decided to stop touring. Paul involved himself in other musical projects outside the group. He composed the score for the movie ‘The Family Way’ which won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Instrumental Theme.

Paul wanted the group to return to the stage, but there were disagreements within the band. Finally The Beatles announced their break-up in April 1970.

Post Beatles: Solo Career

In 1970 Paul released his first solo album called ‘McCartney’. He wanted his wife Linda to be involved with his music so that they could be together all the time. His next album ‘Ram’ was released in 1971. That same year, he formed a band called ‘Wings’ and released their debut album ‘Wild Life’.

In 1972, Paul recorded the theme song for the James Bond film, ‘Live and Let Die’.

In 1973, the ‘Red Rose Speedway’ album was the band’s first No.1 hit in the United States with their single "My Love". They also released ‘Band on the Run’ which won two Grammy Awards.

In 1976 Paul celebrated the Buddy Holly week to commemorate the star’s 40th birthday. He also purchased the publishing rights of the Buddy Holly catalogue. He also bought the rights for the music of the off-Broadway hit musical, ‘Grease’.

Throughout all this the band ‘Wings’ was constantly touring various parts of the world.

In 1977 the band released ‘Mull of Kintyre’ which stayed at the No.1 spot on the UK charts for 9 consecutive weeks. The band continued its touring.

On the 9th of December, 1980, John Lennon was murdered outside his Dakota home. This shocked and troubled Paul a lot. He cancelled further touring for fear of his life.

This led to disagreements with band members of Wings who wanted to continue touring, and the band broke-up.

This did not deter Paul, however. He continued with his work and released ‘McCartney II’ another solo album and collaborated with other singers and songwriters like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. He also continued to write soundtracks for movies like ‘Give My Regards to Broad Street’ in which he also starred. Though the film did not do well commercially, its soundtrack did well.

He also created and lent his voice to the animated film ‘Rupert and the Frog Song’ and wrote and performed the title song for the movie ‘Spies Like Us.

He released ‘Flowers in the Dirt’ in 1989 and it topped the UK charts. He also ventured out into his first concert tour after Lennon’s death.

In 1991 Paul McCartney entered the classical music scene with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society who commissioned Paul to compose a musical piece for them. He went on to create classical music albums like ‘Liverpool Oratorio’, ‘A Leaf’, ‘Standing Stone’, ‘Working Classical’ and ‘Ecce Cor Meum’. He also re-united with George Harrison and Ringo Starr to create ‘The Beatles Anthology’ documentary series.

In 1997, he released ‘Flaming Pie’ which received rave reviews from critics. That year, he was also Knighted as a Knights Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1998, Linda, Paul’s wife, died of breast cancer.

In 2001, Paul McCartney released a retrospective documentary titled ‘Wingspan: An Intimate Portrait’ and also his new album ‘Driving Rain’ in November that year. He also composed and recorded the title track for the film ‘Vanilla Sky’.

Following the 9/11 tragedy, he organized The Concert for New York City in October 2001.

In November of 2001, he lost his friend George Harrison, who died of cancer.

He then continued touring and participated in many concerts worldwide, including the Red Square in Russia. He also played with bands like U2, Jay-Z and Linkin Park.

In 2002, Paul married Heather Mills. They had one daughter, Beatrice Milly McCartney.

They announced their separation in 2006.

On the 2nd of April, 2007 a crazed fan broke through the security fence of Paul’s Peasmarch county estate, wanting to ‘get at him’. Reminded of the murder of his longtime friend John Lennon, Paul has again postponed touring.

Apart from his interests in music, Paul McCartney also has other interests in the arts such as film, painting, writing and poetry. He is also an activist for animal rights and a vegetarian.

He is one of Britain’s wealthiest men and his company owns the copyrights to several music catalogues.