Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney, 2010

Voice of Paul McCartney, interview on BBC Radio4, December 26, 2012

Sir James Paul McCartney , CH , MBE (born June 18, 1942 in Liverpool ) is a British musician , singer-songwriter , composer , Oscar winner and multiple Grammy award winner. He became known worldwide as the singer and bassist of the Beatles , for whom he wrote most of the pieces together with John Lennon . The composer partnership Lennon / McCartney is one of the best known and most successful, and McCartney himself is considered the most successful songwriter in the history of pop music. His piece Yesterday is the most played pop song of all time.

After the Beatles ended, McCartney started a successful solo career and founded the band Wings with his wife Linda . Since the 1980s he has worked almost exclusively as a solo artist and has also devoted himself to new musical areas such as electronic and classical music .

Private life

20 Forthlin Road in Liverpool :
This is where Paul McCartney lived with his brother and father from 1955 to 1965

McCartney grew up in Liverpool, the son of James "Jim" McCartney (1902-1976) and his wife Mary Patricia Mohin McCartney (1909-1956) in a middle-class English middle-class family on. McCartney has a brother ( Michael , born January 7, 1944) and a stepsister (Ruth, born February 15, 1960).

He attended the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys , where he met George Harrison .

From 1963 to 1968 McCartney was in a relationship with the actress Jane Asher , to whom he became engaged in 1967. After separating from her, he married the photographer Linda Eastman on March 12, 1969 . The two have three children together: Mary (born August 28, 1969), Stella (born September 13, 1971) and James (born September 12, 1977). Eastman's daughter Heather (born December 31, 1962) from his first marriage was adopted by McCartney. After Linda's cancer death on 17 April 1998 McCartney married on 11 June 2002, the ex-model Heather Mills . Their daughter Beatrice Milly was born on October 28, 2003. On May 17, 2006, McCartney and Mills announced their separation. On March 17, 2008, the marriage was divorced by the city's highest court in London . McCartney was obliged to pay Mills a settlement equivalent to 32 million euros. Further details were not disclosed as confidentiality was agreed.

On October 9, 2011, Paul McCartney married Nancy Shevell, a businesswoman with whom he had been dating since November 2007. The ceremony took place in London at Old Marylebone Town Hall, where he had married his first wife, Linda Eastman.

In 1980, the German Bettina Hübers (today: Bettina Krischbin, * 1962) from Neumünster claimed to be McCartney's daughter because her mother Erika had a brief affair with him. Several youth and tabloid magazines covered the case. In April 1983, Hübers filed a paternity suit before the family court in Berlin . The court ordered a blood test in October 1983. McCartney gave this blood sample in London, from where it was flown to Berlin for examination . In January 1984 the lawsuit was dismissed because of the negative outcome. In May 2007, the Berlin public prosecutor's office re-investigated the case.

McCartney has been a vegetarian since the 1970s and is committed to animal rights .

The Beatles time

McCartney's trademark - the Höfner bass (in the left-handed version)

Foundation and advancement

On July 6, 1957 McCartney met John Lennon at a church festival in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton and joined his school band The Quarrymen . The first common songs were written, but the band mainly played current hits. In 1958, McCartney's school friend George Harrison joined the band. With two other friends - Stuart Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums - the new formation entered the public stage in the Hamburg Indra Club and the Kaiserkeller in August 1960 under the name The Beatles . Stuart Sutcliffe left the band in early 1961, and McCartney played the electric bass from then on . Further guest appearances in Hamburg followed, in 1961 in the Top Ten Club and in 1962 in the Star Club . In Hamburg the Beatles met the drummer Ringo Starr . Shortly before signing their first record deal in 1962, Ringo Starr was brought into the band in place of Pete Best. Since that time in Hamburg, the left-hander McCartney played an electric bass, model Höfner 500/1 (in the correspondingly reversed version), which became his trademark.

In 1963, after the No. 2 hit Please Please Me, she took first place in the British charts with From Me to You . The triumphant advance of the Fab Four began. In just three years, the Beatles became the most successful and popular band in the world. Especially their mix of rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues paved the way for beat music . McCartney and Lennon were the musical minds of the group.

McCartney's role and strengths with the Beatles

Paul McCartney performing with The Beatles, 1964

Paul McCartney, June 1964

During his time with the Beatles, McCartney made a name for himself as an outstanding composer and first-class bass player. In the early days of the band, McCartney and John Lennon wrote many pieces together, although Lennon was initially seen as the head of the group and to some extent thwarted the bustling McCartney, who also appeared in 1961 as a frontman without an instrument or had a solo appearance in 1965. In 1963, John Lennon and Paul McCartney agreed on the common composer specification Lennon / McCartney even for titles that were predominantly composed by only one of the two. From around 1965 onwards, this composer community increasingly dissolved. McCartney's most successful compositions of the period include Yesterday , Penny Lane , Hey Jude and Let It Be . He was also the lead Beatle in the creation of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road albums . McCartney was the Beatles' most versatile instrumentalist. In addition to singing and bass, he often played guitar, piano, mellotron (as in the piece Strawberry Fields Forever ) and sometimes drums ( Back in the USSR , Dear Prudence and The Ballad of John and Yoko ) when recording the Beatles .

Due to his diverse artistic interests and his numerous contacts with the artistic avant-garde scene of Swinging London in the mid to late 1960s, in which he was known as the "party animal", McCartney brought many musically and artistically demanding and innovative impulses to the band's music. He was the creator of the sound collage that can be heard at the end of Tomorrow Never Knows , and he also had the idea for the final chord of the song A Day in the Life played on the piano .

In late 1966 McCartney was planning a solo album entitled Paul McCartney Goes Too Far . But it didn't come to that.

Drug scandal

The Beatles played a major role in pop music of the 1960s. Another strong influence on the general attitude towards life were - besides music - new drugs and spiritualism . This also had an impact on McCartney and the other members of the Beatles, as well as many other musicians and artists of the era. There was a scandal when McCartney admitted in an interview - at the insistence of the reporter, as he later said - that he had taken LSD several times . McCartney had also asked the reporter not to publish this information in view of his social role model function for many young people and warned his fans against drug use in general in the same interview. In 1996 McCartney also spoke in the anthology of the fact that, like each of the Beatles, he had taken marijuana without hesitation , but the less appealing LSD had been forced on him by the other band members through peer pressure.

Musical highlight of the band

Paul McCartney, 1964

The first rumors of separation of the Beatles surfaced in late 1966 and early 1967, when the band gave up their tours completely because of the stresses involved; the press then assumed that the Beatles were going downhill, while McCartney, as he said in 1996, used to laugh his sleeve up at such headlines, since the musicians, who were changing into a more mature studio band at that time, were already recording the double-A -Page single Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane as well as the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band were.

The title track of the Sgt. Pepper album was written by McCartney. In the spring of 1967 he had traveled for a few weeks through France with road manager Mal Evans for the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour to shoot some settings for the music video for the song The Fool on the Hill contained in the film . On the return flight to England, Evans asked McCartney if he would add salt or pepper to his meal ? wool. McCartney misunderstood Sgt. Pepper , and the sound of the name intrigued him. At the same time, his band colleague Lennon had complained for some time about the band's narrowing public image of the Beatles in the early days as "kitsch producers for flappers", whereupon McCartney now developed the concept of Pepper's Hearts Club Band as the Beatles' alter ego from the above misunderstanding, with the help of this masking of the band to break out of the prefabricated role cliché and to be perceived as more musically demanding.

During this time McCartney met Linda Eastman . The two married in 1969. The marriage had three children.

McCartney read in 1968 in an article by a music critic, in which the song I Can See for Miles by The Who was presumably covered, by the "loudest, most unbearable and most obscene song of all time". Of these, inspired McCartney undertook to write the loudest and hardest song of all time - the recorded in the same year and on the so-called White Album published Helter Skelter by many as the first, heavy metal -Stück is considered in the modern sense.

Inner tension and separation

The breakup rumors grew louder in 1968. Internal tensions, especially between McCartney and Lennon, but also between McCartney and Harrison, weighed on the artistic collaboration, not least because of the death of their manager Brian Epstein in the summer of 1967. While Harrison had been bitter for years about the unjust treatment as "second fiddle" (his compositions were often not treated equally), Lennon showed less and less interest in the group: he had initially hoped that fame as a musician would help him overcome depression and inferiority complexes. But that had not come true.

The tensions had eased again in mid-February 1968 during the meditation stay of the band and their wives with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh (India). During these weeks numerous compositions were created for the musically rich and diverse album The Beatles . Ringo Starr returned to England in early March, and McCartney followed three weeks later. John Lennon and George Harrison didn't leave India until mid-April after Lennon's friend Yanni Alexis "Magic Alex" Mardas spread the rumor that Maharishi sexually molested Mia Farrow - a rumor that Farrow himself never confirmed and that George Harrison later advocated should have apologized to Maharishi.

McCartney tried to keep the group together with the film project Let It Be and the recordings for the album of the same name , but Harrison and Lennon drew more and more humanly from the Beatles.

In addition, the band had financial problems due to the poorly organized Apple project. When the other three Beatles wanted to hire the American businessman Allen Klein as a company reorganizer and new band manager, McCartney blocked the decision with his veto , whereupon Lennon, Harrison and Starr signed the contract with Klein without McCartney. McCartney was apparently the only one of the four who knew that the contract Klein was offering would not only tie them to this new manager for the rest of their lives, but would also allow Klein to withhold almost all of their earnings. To prevent this, McCartney only had the option to sue his three band members - which also meant the breakup of the band. At the time, only McCartney seemed to have been interested in their cohesion.

In fact, on April 10, 1970, McCartney announced the separation of the band at the same time as the lawsuit was filed and presented his solo album a day later. McCartney and Lennon never composed again and were never seen together in public again. The last musical activity of the two took place in 1974, the last personal meeting in 1976.

The legal disputes between the four musicians among themselves, with Klein, with their old record company EMI and with the handling of the failed Apple project kept a large number of lawyers busy until the end of the 1970s, which put additional strain on the personal relationships of the four.

After George Harrison's death , McCartney publicly expressed feelings of a close bond with him over all those years until a deathbed visit.

In an interview on October 29, 2012, McCartney said that John Lennon's second wife, Yoko Ono, was not to blame for the Beatles' breakup.

Independent work

The 1960s

The Family Way was released in January 1967 , it is the first studio album with new compositions by a member of the Beatles, but it is not considered a solo studio album by Paul McCartney, as he only contributed the compositions. During the Let-It-Be sessions in 1969, Paul McCartney recorded the song My Dark Hour under the pseudonym Paul Ramon with Steve Miller , which appeared on Steve Miller's album Brave New Word in June 1969. Furthermore, Paul McCartney supported the artists Peter & Gordon , Cilla Black , The Scaffold and Mary Hopkin musically in the 1960s .

The 1970s

Solo career

Paul McCartney's first solo album was released on April 17, 1970 and was simply titled McCartney . The album recorded by McCartney all alone received poor reviews, but was commercially successful. The album reached number one in the US charts and number two in Great Britain. The track Maybe I'm Amazed was covered by numerous other artists and has been part of Paul McCartney's live repertoire almost continuously to this day. Although John Lennon announced on September 20, 1969 during a meeting with the other members of the Beatles that he wanted the "divorce" from the Beatles, the press release for the McCartney album is considered the de facto end of the Beatles. Paul McCartney used the self-written question-and-answer game to announce his departure from the group. In particular, he clearly ruled out a future compositional collaboration with Lennon. Paul McCartney later described the period of differences with the other Beatles and Allen Klein as a nightmare, but he felt starting his family with his wife Linda as a way out, as he realized that there was a life outside the Beatles for him.

While Lennon turned out to be the most self-sufficient Beatle at the time of the separation, who was particularly interested in his music and his wife Yoko Ono , McCartney was reliant on the approval of the audience all his life. With the breakup of the Beatles, it was McCartney who fell into a deep depression; he withdrew with his new family for months to a farm in Scotland, where he became a temporary alcoholic and became increasingly neglected until his wife Linda McCartney encouraged him to record new music together.

The following year came out the first single Another Day / Oh Woman Oh Why (February 1971) and the album Ram (May 1971). This also got off badly in the criticism, but sold well, became the first number 1 album in Great Britain and reached second place in the US charts. In contrast to Paul McCartney's first solo album, Ram was a far more elaborate production, this time McCartney hired studio musicians to support him, and George Martin wrote the string arrangements for three songs.

While the British (The Back Seat of My Car) and the German (Eat at home) single release for "Beatle conditions" achieved modest placements, was Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey , the first No. 1 hit single in the Billboard charts the UNITED STATES. Too Many People is one of three songs on the album that John Lennon found addressed to himself, the other two being Dear Boy and The Back Seat Of My Car . The song How Do You Sleep from the John Lennon album Imagine is a settlement with McCartney and a reaction to his Ram album. The line of text “those freaks was right when they said you was dead” is an allusion to the Paul-is-dead conspiracy theory. The song contains other claims, including that Paul McCartney surrounds himself with "yes-men" and that John Lennon believes his music is inferior and that his career will only last a year or two. The cover of the album Ram shows Paul McCartney holding a ram by its horns on the front. John Lennon had a photo of himself and a pig in a similar pose taken on the cover as a parody and added it as a photo to his album Imagine .

The relationship between the two ex-Beatles at this point was marred by personal, financial and creative differences.

Wings

Paul McCartney, 1974

With the US drummer Denny Seiwell and the guitarist Denny Laine , McCartney founded the group Wings in August 1971 , in which his wife Linda played the keyboard. The first album Wild Life was released in December 1971, but it only reached number 10 in the US and received - like its predecessors - mostly negative reviews. The album contains the song Dear Friend, the answer to John Lennon's How Do You Sleep . McCartney originally planned to write a song called Quite Well, Thank You in response .

In 1972 the group, meanwhile strengthened by the Irish guitarist Henry McCullough , brought out three singles. In Give Ireland Back to the Irish (February 1972) McCartney dealt with the Bloody Sunday in Derry , similar to what John Lennon did a little later in his songs Sunday Bloody Sunday and The Luck of the Irish . Give Ireland Back to the Irish came to the index of the BBC and was therefore not play in their radio programs. The same happened to the rocking single A-side Hi Hi Hi in December 1972, in the text of which the music directors of the BBC believed they heard calls for drug use and unwanted sexual acts. Their B-side C-Moon , a reggae- style song, was more successful . In the meantime, in May 1972, the nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb was published.

In addition, the group went on tour, from February 9 to 23, 1972, the Wings gave eleven concerts in British universities, some to a small audience. There were only 400 in Newcastle and 750 in Birmingham . The first concert took place in the Portland Building at the University of Nottingham without Paul McCartney being specifically announced on the posters. In the same year, the Wings went on a European tour from July 9th to August 24th under the title Wings Over Europe Tour , followed by a tour of Great Britain from May 11th to July 10th in 1973.

With the next album Red Rose Speedway , which was released in May 1973, the Wings reached the top position in the US charts for the first time, and the release My Love was number 1 in the US for four weeks. "Paul McCartney & Wings" were now named as interpreters, the record company hoped for better sales figures by naming McCartney.

That same year, get Paul McCartney and Wings their greatest successes so far: The Oscar -nominated single Live and Let Die (June 1973), produced by George Martin and from the eponymous James Bond film Live and Let Die with Roger Moore and the album Band on the Run released in December 1973 , which again topped the charts in Great Britain and the USA, the single Band on the Run became another number one hit in the USA, the title Jet was also successful as a single. Just before the first recordings for Band on the Run , which took place in Lagos , Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough had left the band.

In 1973, McCartney and Ringo Starr began a sporadic musical collaboration , which was musically reflected in the 1970s in the Ringo Starr albums Ringo (November 1973) and Ringo's Rotogravure (September 1976). Other joint projects followed in the coming decades, for example on the Starr albums Stop and Smell the Roses (November 1981), Vertical Man (August 1998), Y Not (January 2010) and Give More Love (September 2017). The relationship with John Lennon also relaxed, so Lennon and McCartney took part in a jam session on March 28, 1974 at the Burbank Studios in Los Angeles , California . It was the last time they both made music together, these recordings were only released on bootlegs . Another musical collaboration with Paul McCartney that John Lennon had planned was not realized. On April 24, 1976 Paul McCartney visited John Lennon again in New York . It was the last meeting of the two ex-Beatles.

The Wings live 1976 ( Jimmy McCulloch and Paul McCartney)

In the following time after the appearance of Band on the Run McCartney took his time and released the single Junior's Farm (October 1974) and the album McGear (September 1974), it is a solo album by Michael McCartney, the brother of Paul McCartney, who gave the stage name Mike McGear and was also a member of the group The Scaffold . The band Wings was meanwhile strengthened with the guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and the drummer Joe English.

The albums Venus and Mars (released in May 1975 with the number 1 single Listen to What the Man Said ) and Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound (released in March 1976 with the hits Silly Love Songs and Let 'Em In ) marked together With the world tour (Wings Over the World Tour) from August 9, 1975 to October 21, 1976, from which the successful live album Wings over America (December 1976) emerged, further commercial successes of the Wings. All three albums reached number one in the US charts. Paul McCartney was able to record eight top ten albums in the USA by the end of 1976, including six number one albums and five number one single hits. The concert film Rockshow was recorded in June 1976 during the world tour in North America and had its cinema premiere in November 1980.

Paul McCartney, September 1976

Shortly after the release of Ram in 1971, Paul McCartney commissioned arranger Richard Hewson to write and record an orchestral version of the album Ram in big band sound. The album, which was released in April 1977, was released under the pen name Percy "Thrills" Thrillington, entitled Thrillington . In the summer of 1976 Paul and Linda McCartney recorded ten Buddy Holly songs with Denny Laine . Paul McCartney already owned the rights to Buddy Holly songs at the time of recording. Denny Laine took on the lead vocals, and the album was released under the name Holly Days by Denny Laine in May 1977. Other artists Paul McCartney worked with in the 1970s included Peggy Lee , Roger Daltrey , Carly Simon , Adam Faith , Roy Harper and Godley & Creme .

Paul and Linda McCartney

Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English left the band in 1977 while they were recording their new album ( London Town ) . The McCartneys and Denny Laine finished the album as a threesome. In November 1977 the single Mull of Kintyre was released , became McCartney's biggest success in Europe and even replaced the Beatles singles from the top of the lists of the all-time bestsellers. Only in the USA was the single not a success. In March 1978, the album London Town was released with the USA number 1 single With a Little Luck . London Town is Paul McCartney's first album to reach the top ten in the German charts. It reached number 2 in the US and number 4 in the UK.

From 1979 up to and including 1984 Paul McCartney was in the USA and Canada with the recording company Columbia Records under contract. Capitol Records was able to release a compilation album by Paul McCartney in December 1978 , which was titled with the name Wings Greatest . With a new line-up (Steve Holley: drums; Laurence Juber: guitar) the Wings released the successful single Goodnight Tonight in March 1979 . The album Back to the Egg , released in June 1979, did not meet the high expectations on two songs despite numerous prominent guest musicians and was not commercially successful compared to the previous Wings albums. In November 1979 the Paul McCartney single Wonderful Christmas Time was released , it was the first solo single since 1971. From November 23 to December 29, 1979 the Wings went on tour for the last time, there were only concerts in Great Britain. In Hammersmith Odeon found from 26 to 29 December 1979 by Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim , Secretary General of the UN four charity concerts for the residents of, Cambodia instead. As part of this concert series, the Wings gave their last concert on December 29, 1979. A Wings tour through Japan did not materialize in January 1980 because McCartney was arrested on arrival for possession of hashish . Until September 1989 there should be no further concerts by Paul McCartney. Between July 1980 and January 1981, the Wings worked on a new studio album and a compilation album with previously unreleased Wings / Paul McCartney songs called Cold Cuts . While only test recordings were made for the new studio album, the album Cold Cuts was completed but not released. The official dissolution of the Wings took place on April 27, 1981.

The 1980s

Paul McCartney with his son James, 1980

In May 1980, the single- handedly recorded McCartney II album was released. It amazed fans and critics alike, as McCartney once again treaded new musical paths: Synthesizers are increasingly used on the album , less the "classic" instruments such as guitar and bass. The released single Coming Up was a hit in Great Britain, in the USA the version recorded live by the Wings reached number one in the charts.

Paul McCartney, January 1980

When John Lennon was shot in front of his apartment in New York on December 8, 1980 , Paul McCartney broke off work on the new album and withdrew from the public. Here Today , a song on the upcoming album, pays homage to Lennon and was part of McCartney's live repertoire for decades to come. George Harrison probably re-recorded the song All Those Years Ago , originally intended for Ringo Starr, in his home studio in March 1981 as a tribute to John Lennon. Harrison changed the lyrics for this and invited Paul and Linda McCartney as well as Denny Laine to contribute the backing vocals. Since Ringo Starr already played drums in the original recordings in November 1980, all three living Beatles were involved in a new song for the first time. Another collaboration took place again in 1994 with the preparation of the Beatles documentary Anthology .

McCartney achieved the world hit Ebony and Ivory in 1982 in a duet with Stevie Wonder , which became a number one hit in Germany, Great Britain and the USA. The accompanying album Tug of War (April 1982) also reached number one in these three countries and was highly praised by critics. On the recordings, McCartney worked again with Ringo Starr and Beatles producer George Martin . He also fulfilled a dream and recorded the piece Get It together with Carl Perkins , one of his youthful idols.

Paul McCartney and Walter Yetnikoff, President of CBS Records

In October 1983 the album Pipes of Peace was released with material that had already been partially recorded for Tug of War , it was the first Paul McCartney album to no longer reach the top ten in the USA. The album couldn't build on its predecessor in terms of reviews either. The single Say Say Say with Michael Jackson, however, was again a world hit and the ninth and so far last number one hit in the USA. The previous year, in October 1982, McCartney had participated in Jackson's hit The Girl Is Mine . The second single, Pipes of Peace , became the third and so far last number 1 in the UK. In the video clip, McCartney took up the Christmas fraternization of German and English soldiers in the First World War .

In November 1984, We All Stand Together from the cartoon Rupert and the Frog Song appeared . The movie Broad Street starring Ringo Starr and his wife Barbara Bach was a commercial failure, but the soundtrack Give My Regards to Broad Street , released in October 1984 and re-produced by George Martin, peaked at number one in the UK. The single No More Lonely Nights was also internationally successful. McCartney later attributed the film's failure to the fact that he wrote the script himself, rather than passing his ideas on to experienced writers.

The following year, composed and sang the theme song McCartney for the movie Spies Like Us (dt .: Spies Like Us ). The single was released in November 1985, it would be the last top ten hit in the US so far. Overall, Paul McCartney reached the top ten of the US singles charts 22 times, including nine number one hits.

McCartney also worked on charity projects , such as the Live Aid concert for Africa initiated by Bob Geldof and the accompanying single Do They Know It's Christmas? He also worked musically with The Crickets , Duane Eddy , Johnny Cash and the Everly Brothers in the 1980s .

On June 20, 1986 Paul McCartney performed with fellow artists at Wembley Arena on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Prince's Trust. He sang the songs I Saw Her Standing There , Long Tall Sally and Get Back . The published vinyl album Recorded Highlights of the Prince's Trust 10th Anniversary Birthday Party contains the song Get Back , an enclosed 7 ″ vinyl single the other two songs.

With the album Press to Play , on which he worked with Eric Stewart from the band 10cc , Paul McCartney tried in September 1986 to present a more contemporary sound, but the commercial success failed.

In February / March 1987 Paul McCartney recorded several songs with Phil Ramone as producer; but there was no album release. Two songs from these recording sessions were released as singles in Europe in November 1987, the A-side Once Upon a Long Ago placed in the top ten of the British singles charts. In total, Paul McCartney reached the top ten of the UK singles charts 23 times, three of which were number one hits. In the same month, the commercially very successful greatest hits album All the Best! released.

In October 1988 the album Снова в СССР (Back in the USSR) was released, which only contained classic rock 'n' roll pieces from the 1950s and was initially only available in the Soviet Union . A few years later, when many re- imports or bootlegs were available, the album was regularly released worldwide in September 1991.

In May 1989, the benefit single Ferry Cross the Mersey was released for the benefit of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster. Performers were in addition to Paul McCartney Gerry Marsden , Holly Johnson and The Christians , producers of the song composed by Gerry Marsden were Stock Aitken Waterman . The song was number 1 on the UK charts for three weeks .

After the release of the album Flowers in the Dirt in June 1989, on which McCartney collaborated with Elvis Costello on some tracks , he went from September 26, 1989 to July 29, 1990, for the first time since December 1979, again under the name The Paul McCartney World Tour on tour. With the album Flowers in the Dirt , Paul McCartney has recorded an album with a permanent backing band since Back to the Egg . Most of the songs were Linda McCartney , Hamish Stuart , Paul "Wix" Wickens, Chris Whitten and Robbie McIntosh (from September 1988) involved. The band stayed together, apart from drummer Chris Whitten, until the end of 1993. With Paul "Wix" Wickens Paul McCartney works musically to this day (as of December 2019).

The album Flowers in the Dirt became the seventh and, for the time being, last number one album in Great Britain, the tour also became a great commercial success, followed in November 1990 by a live album entitled Tripping the Live Fantastic . Richard Lester , director of the Beatles films Yeah Yeah Yeah and Hi-Hi-Hilfe! , shot the concert film Get Back at McCartney's request , which first ran in cinemas and was later released as a VHS video cassette / DVD .

The 1990s

Paul McCartney during an interview in September 1993

In January 1991, McCartney joined as part of the program Unplugged radio station MTV on. McCartney did not only resort to his own compositions for this performance, but also played rock 'n' roll pieces that had influenced him musically. After the concert, Paul McCartney decided to release the gig as his third live album, which then became the first unplugged album. Artists like Eric Clapton and Mariah Carey released other unplugged albums in the following years. The album included Paul McCartney's first composition, I Lost My Little Girl , which was first legally released. The concert, which was small for his standards, then inspired McCartney to several similar appearances from May 8 to July 24, 1991 in Europe (Unplugged Tour) ; it was released as an album in May 1991. On this album, the drummer Chris Whitten, who switched to the music group Dire Straits , was replaced by Blair Cunningham.

Paul McCartney's first classic album followed in October 1991: Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio ; Two more classical works followed in the 1990s: Standing Stone (September 1997) and Working Classical (November 1999).

In February 1993 the album Off the Ground was released , which contained Hope of Deliverance, his last top 10 hit in Germany to date. Paul McCartney has reached the top ten of the singles charts in Germany five times, two of which were number one hits. The following world tour under the title The New World Tour from February 18 to December 16, 1993 fell short of expectations compared to the 1989/90 tour. The event of McCartney's return to the stage was no longer new, so there was less audience interest. Paul McCartney had increasingly resorted to songs from the Beatles' repertoire on these tours, and they were best received by the audience.

Paul McCartney and Martin Glover , aka Youth

The commercially unsuccessful live album Paul Is Live was released in November 1993; In the same month appeared under the pseudonym The Fireman a collaboration with Youth , the instrumental album Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest . Released in March 1994, the concert film Paul Is Live In Concert On The New World Tour was recorded during the 1993 world tour.

Since McCartney had been considering the idea of ​​a comprehensive Beatles documentary for some time, the resolution of various disputes with his former bandmates came at just the right time.

George Harrison and Ringo Starr worked with McCartney on the Beatles Anthology , which was published in 1995/96 on three CD double albums with previously unavailable demo, live or alternative versions of many Beatles songs and a ten-hour documentary. Two new Beatles tracks have also been released, produced by Jeff Lynne : Free as a Bird and Real Love . These were based on demo recordings by John Lennon and were worked out into finished songs by McCartney, Harrison and Starr.

On January 28, 1995, Paul McCartney recorded the song Hiroshima Sky Is Always Blue with Yoko Ono , Sean Lennon , Linda McCartney and their four children , which was broadcast on Japanese radio and available on bootlegs . On March 23, 1995, a concert with Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Willard White, Michael Pollock, Sally Burgess and other artists followed under the title An Evening with Paul McCartney & Friends , which was broadcast on April 17, 1995 on British radio. On April 21, 1995, a 5 ″ CD single was released from the concert with the title Paul McCartney's A Leaf , the interpreter of the piano piece composed by Paul McCartney was Anya Alexeyev.

In addition to Harrison and Starr, Paul McCartney worked in the 1990s with 10cc , Allen Ginsberg and continued with Elvis Costello. McCartney discovered his love for painting, which became known abroad through various exhibitions. He started to do charitable work . In the 1990s he was involved in founding the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). In 2002 he designed a stamp series for the Isle of Man .

His next solo album Flaming Pie , which was released in May 1997, reached the top ten of the US charts for the first time since Tug of War and was considered by some critics to be the best album since Band on the Run . On this album there was a renewed collaboration with Ringo Starr, Steve Miller and Jeff Lynne, who played essentially all the instruments. In December 1997 McCartney recorded the song A Room with a View, written in 1927, for the benefit album Twentieth Century Blues: The Songs of Noël Coward .

On April 17, 1998, his wife Linda died of breast cancer . Paul McCartney compiled the album Wide Prairie , composed of songs sung by Linda McCartney, and it was released in October 1998. Another instrumental album by the duo The Fireman was released in September 1998 under the title Rushes . While the previous album Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest consists mainly of mixes of already published recordings by Paul McCartney, newly composed songs were recorded for Rushes , which are essentially atmospheric instrumental music.

The next regular studio album Run Devil Run (October 1999) consisted of rock-'n'-roll pieces like Снова в СССР , but this time Paul McCartney also used two original compositions. On December 14th, 1999 Paul McCartney performed with David Gilmour , Ian Paice , Mick Green and Pete Wingfield in front of 300 people in the replica of the Cavern Club , the appearance will be on the DVD Live at the Cavern Club! (June 2001) documented.

In 1999, McCartney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

The 2000s

Paul McCartney at a concert in August 2009: His live repertoire now includes numerous pieces from the Beatles' era

In June 2000 the Buddy Holly song Maybe Baby was released , which appeared on the soundtrack album of the same name. Liverpool Sound Collage , released in August 2000, is Paul McCartney's first experimental album. It contains no songs, but sound collages that McCartney put together from various sound recordings. In September 2000, the book Paintings was published , which shows paintings and illustrations by Paul McCartney.

The third compilation album by Paul McCartney Wingspan: Hits and History (May 2001) was commercially successful, parallel to the release of the double CD, the documentary film of the same name Wingspan was broadcast on television in several countries . The film's director, Alistair Donald, is the then husband of Mary McCartney, who interviewed her father Paul McCartney in the film. The documentary covers the period from the beginning of the relationship between Paul and Linda McCartney and essentially deals with the history of the Wings until they split up in April 1981. The DVD of the same name was released in November 2001.

In March 2001 the book Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics 1965-1999 , a collection of poetry by McCartney, was published. In April 2001, the tribute album Brand New Boots and Panties was released in honor of Ian Dury , for which Paul McCartney contributed the song I'm Partial to Your Abracadabra . For the compilation album Good Rockin 'Tonight - The Legacy of Sun Records Paul McCartney recorded the song That's All Right , the album was released in October 2001.

For the feature film Vanilla Sky , McCartney composed and sang the title song of the same name, which was nominated for an Oscar , it was released in December 2001 on the soundtrack album Music from Vanilla Sky .

On October 20, 2001, a McCartney-organized benefit concert with several artists took place in Madison Square Garden in New York for the benefit of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks .

The studio album Driving Rain (November 2001) did not sell well, it only reached number 46 in the British album charts . No new studio album by Paul McCartney up to and including New placed lower in the UK.

The last meeting of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr took place on 12 November 2001 at the University Hospital of Staten Iceland ( New York instead) where Harrison was treated. George Harrison died on November 29, 2001 at the age of 58 in Los Angeles, California.

On June 11, 2002, Paul McCartney married former model Heather Mills , with whom he has a daughter. The marriage was divorced on March 17, 2008.

On November 29, 2002, the Concert for George took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London, at which Paul McCartney sang the Harrison compositions For You Blue , Something and All Things Must Pass . McCartney sang the song While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Eric Clapton . The Harrison composition Something , played by Paul McCartney in memory of George Harrison, who died in November 2001, was performed by McCartney with a ukulele , Harrison's favorite instrument, and was part of the live repertoire in the following years.

New tours followed in 2002/2003 ( Driving World Tour from April 1 to November 18, 2002 and the Back in the World Tour from March 25 to June 1, 2003), on which songs from the Beatles' times were played Solo works clearly outperformed. In November 2002 the live album Back in the US was released in the USA; in the rest of the world, Back in the World was released in March 2003 . For these live performances McCartney put together a new band: Paul "Wix" Wickens, who was a member of his backing band from 1989 to 1993, and Abe Laboriel Jr. and Rusty Anderson , who were studio musicians on the album Driving Rain . Brian Ray joined as a new member. With this line-up, Paul McCartney gives concerts to this day (as of June 2016). The North American tour in 2002 was documented on the DVD Back in the US , and two more concert films were made during subsequent tours in 2004 In Red Square ( 04 Summer Tour from May 25 to June 26, 2004) and The Space in 2005 Within US ( The 'US' Tour from September 17 to November 30, 2005). In the years 2007 to 2009 Paul McCartney completed two tours in addition to solo appearances: Secret Tour 2007 from June 7th to October 25th 2007 and the short North American tour Summer Live '09 from July 11th to August 19th, 2009.

Paul McCartney, Heather Mills and Vladimir Putin in Moscow , 2003

In September 2004, the Paul McCartney single Tropical Island Hum / We All Stand Together was released in the UK . The recordings were made in December 1987 with George Martin as producer. The Animation Collection DVD with animated films produced by Paul McCartney was released in parallel.

The joint composition Whole Life by Paul McCartney and David Stewart was recorded in October 2003 in Abbey Road Studios by the band of Paul McCartney and the two composers of the song. It was released in March 2005 on the compilation album One Year On 46664 .

On July 2, 2005, Paul McCartney and U2 performed during the Live 8 concert and played the song Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , which was released as a download single on the same day.

In September 2005 the top ten album Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard , mainly recorded by Paul McCartney alone, was released , which was highly praised by the music press. McCartney's first remix album, Twin Freaks , was released three months earlier in June 2005 . In October 2005, the book High in the Clouds , an animal fable by Paul McCartney, Geoff Dunbar and Philip Ardagh, was published.

On September 25, 2006, the album Ecce Cor Meum was released. It is McCartney's fourth album of classical music.

Paul McCartney Live at the 2007 BBC Electric Proms

In March 2007 McCartney announced the signing of a contract with the US label Hear Music . This made him the first artist to work for the newly founded label from Starbucks . In June 2007, the album Memory Almost Full was released on this label , which received good reviews and was nominated in three categories at the Grammy 2008 and was again able to place in the US and UK in the top five in the charts.

Concert in Tel Aviv , 2008

On September 25, 2008 McCartney gave the largest pop concert in Israeli history in Tel Aviv in front of 45,000 spectators . Before that, he had been banned from performing for 44 years.

On November 24, 2008 McCartney released together with Martin Glover as The Fireman their third album Electric Arguments , which received good reviews. Musically, it is more like a regular McCartney studio album than the two previous instrumental albums by The Fireman. For the first time it was officially confirmed who is behind the pseudonym.

Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, 2009

After a joint appearance with Ringo Starr at a benefit concert in New York on April 4, 2009, it was reported that both want to work together musically again. In January, Ringo Starr released the album Y Not , on which two songs can be heard together with McCartney. Further musical collaboration followed in the 2000s with Brian Wilson , Stevie Wonder , Klaus Voormann , Yusuf , Lulu , Tony Bennett , George Benson , Al Jarreau , George Michael and Nitin Sawhney and other artists.

Paul McCartney, 2009

On July 16 and 18, 2008, Billy Joel gave two multi-guest concerts at Shea Stadium before it was demolished. One of the invited guests was Paul McCartney, who sang the songs I Saw Her Standing There and Let It Be with Billy Joel .

On July 17, 18 and 21, 2009 McCartney performed in front of an audience of almost 110,000 at the opening of the Citi Field baseball stadium in New York, a live album Good Evening New York City was released in December 2009. It was in the same place Shea Stadium, where the Beatles played in front of about 55,000 fans on August 15, 1965.

The Good Evening Europe tour followed from December 2nd to 22nd, 2009 with stops in Hamburg , Berlin , Arnhem , Paris , Cologne , Dublin and London .

The 2010s

Paul McCartney at a concert in Dublin 2010

In February 2010 the download single (I Want To) Come Home was released, McCartney recorded the song for the movie Everybody's Fine .

Between March 2010 and October 2015, Paul McCartney embarked on another world tour with interruptions under different titles: Up and Coming Tour from March 28, 2010 to June 10, 2011; On the Run Tour from July 15, 2011 to November 29, 2012 and the Out There Tour from May 4, 2013 to October 22, 2015.

Paul McCartney at the White House , June 2010

On June 2, 2010, Paul McCartney performed in the White House and sang the song Michelle in the presence of First Lady Michelle Obama and Barack Obama .

In June 2011, the compilation album Rave On , which contains reinterpretations of Buddy Holly songs, was released, McCartney contributed the song It's so Easy .

On October 3, 2011, the album Ocean's Kingdom was released. It is Paul McCartney's fifth classic album and contains the music for the ballet of the same name , which was first performed by the New York City Ballet on September 22, 2011 .

On October 9, 2011, Paul McCartney married his partner Nancy Shevell.

In February 2012 the album Kisses on the Bottom was released. It is an album with a lot of jazz music. The songs My Valentine and Only Our Hearts were released as singles and released. On February 9, 2012, Paul McCartney gave a concert at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, which appeared on the Blu-ray Disc Live Kisses in November 2012 .

His performance of the title Hey Jude formed the musical conclusion of the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics , which began in London on July 27, 2012 , after midnight .

Paul McCartney in Uruguay , 2012

In December 2012 Paul McCartney released The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) after Wonderful Christmastime from 1979, his second Christmas single. That same month, Cut Me Some Slack was released , a download single that Paul McCartney recorded with former Nirvana members Dave Grohl , Krist Novoselić and Pat Smear . The song Cut Me Some Slack was performed in this formation during the benefit concert 12-12-12: Concert for Sandy Victims on December 12, 2012 in Madison Square Garden in New York , where Paul McCartney and his band also performed. In June 2013, another download single, Out of Sight , was released under the artist name The Bloody Beetroots feat. Paul McCartney & Youth published. Paul McCartney also worked with his son James on his projects.

In October 2013 the album New . The album again reached the top ten of the charts in Germany, Great Britain and the USA. The single New reached number four in the Japanese charts.

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr played the McCartney song Queenie Eye live at the 2014 Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2014 . Together with Grohl, Novoselic and Smear he won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for Cut Me Some Slack . On January 27, 2014, McCartney performed again with Ringo Starr and other artists at The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles in Los Angeles . The concert was broadcast on CBS on February 9th and 12th, 2014 . They played the songs With a Little Help from My Friends and Hey Jude together .

On September 26, 2014 was published Download the video game soundtrack Destiny . Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, C Paul Johnson and Paul McCartney are listed as interpreters. The song Hope for the Future , included in the game but not on the soundtrack album, was released as a McCartney single on December 8, 2014.

At the turn of the year 2014/15, Kanye West released the joint composition Only One as a download single with Paul McCartney (under the artist name "Kanye West featuring Paul McCartney") . On January 24, 2015, the song FourFiveSeconds was followed by another single with Rihanna and Kanye West under the title "Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCartney", which the trio performed on February 8, 2015 at the 2015 Grammy Awards . The single became an international top ten hit. The third collaboration with Kanye West and Paul McCartney was released on March 2, 2015 under the title All Day as a download single, as interpreters were given "Kanye West featuring Theophilus London , Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney". When All Day at the end of the track parts of unreleased Paul McCartney song was When the Wind is Blowing used.

On April 13, 2016, McCartney began his One on One tour , which also included concerts in Düsseldorf , Munich and Berlin . In June 2016, the fourth compilation album by Paul McCartney was released under the title Pure McCartney , which includes songs between 1970 and 2014.

In August 2016, Capitol Records announced that Paul McCartney would be returning to his previous label and that he was working on a new studio album. In November 2016, the soundtrack album Ethel & Ernest was released, to which McCartney contributed the song In the Blink of An Eye .

In January 2017, Paul McCartney sued Sony / ATV Music Publishing in the United States to regain the rights to the Beatles songs he wrote with John Lennon under the Lennon / McCartney copyright . In June 2017 it was announced that the two right-wing parties had reached an agreement.

In 2017, McCartney made a brief appearance in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Revenge of Salazar , the fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean saga .

Paul McCartney, 2018

The album Egypt Station was released on September 7, 2018 . It is McCartney's 18th solo album, and it is also Paul McCartney's 47th album, including the Wings albums, The Fireman albums, classic albums, live and compilation albums. The album reached first place in the charts in Germany and the USA, making it the second number one album in Germany and the eighth in the USA. Overall, Paul McCartney's albums have reached the top ten in the respective charts so far: 13 times in Germany, 20 times in the USA and 28 times in Great Britain.

From September 17, 2018 to July 13, 2019, the new Paul McCartney tour followed under the name Freshen Up Tour . Paul McCartney played the song Get Back during the tour with Ringo Starr on December 16, 2018 at the O ₂ Arena in London and the songs Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) and on July 13, 2019 at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles Helter Skelter during two McCartney concerts.

On January 1, 2019, the song Get Enough was released as a download single, which then became part of the expanded album Egypt Station Explorer's Edition , which was released as a double CD in May 2019.

On July 12, 2019 the live album Amoeba Gig was released, which includes a concert from 2007. In 2019 McCartney published two books, Less Meat in January , Less Heat , which shows a link between meat consumption and global warming, and in September Hey Grandude! , a children's book illustrated by Kathryn Durst. In addition, an audiobook reviewed by McCartney was published .

On November 22, 2019, the download single Home Tonight / In A Hurry was released. Both songs are from the Egypt Station recording sessions, but were not used for the album.

A musical collaboration took place in the 2010s alongside Ringo Starr with the Foo Fighters , James McCartney , Eric Clapton , Kanye West , Rihanna , Charlotte Gainsbourg and other artists.

The 2020s

On April 18, 2020 Paul McCartney performed as part of the charity show "One World: Together At Home" and sang Lady Madonna .

McCartney wanted to extend his freshen-up tour by ten more concerts into 2020, including a stadium concert in Germany in the HDI-Arena in Hanover . The ten appointments in several Western European countries were set for May and June, but had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic .

On June 5, 2020, McCartney commented on the socio-political events in the USA in May / June 2020 due to the death of George Floyd as follows: "[...] We all support and stand by all those who are protesting at this time and raise your voice. I want justice for George Floyd's family, I want justice for all those who have died and suffered. Saying nothing is not an option. " This statement was supported by Ringo Starr, who pointed out that the Beatles always stood for equality and justice.

Another fundraiser that McCartney attended was held on June 20, 2020, entitled Round Midnight Preserves . Paul McCartney played the song When the Saints Go Marching In with other artists ( Elvis Costello , Dave Grohl , Jim James, Dave Matthews , Irma Thomas and Nathaniel Ratleliff) .

social commitment

Appearance at Live 8

The couple Paul and Linda McCartney were committed to animal welfare. The two campaigned against animal experiments as well as against the utilization of animals for food and furs. Both became vegetarians in the 1970s . Musically, the song Looking for Changes on the album Off the Ground testifies to this . In 2005, McCartney and Heather Mills supported the seal hunt protest by taking photos of young seals in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada .

In an Internet video, McCartney speaks out against the conditions in factory farming. He begins the video with the statement: "If slaughterhouses had walls made of glass, everyone would be a vegetarian."

In addition, Paul McCartney was involved in several well-known musical charity projects:

• In 1979 the Wings performed at Concerts for the People of Kampuchea in London .
• He sang with Band Aid and Band Aid 20.
• Together with Gerry Marsden (from the band Gerry & the Pacemakers ), the Christians and Holly Johnson from Frankie Goes to Hollywood , he re-recorded Marsden's hit Ferry Cross the Mersey in 1989 . The proceeds went to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster .
• McCartney performed on Live 8 on July 2, 2005 in Hyde Park, London .
• Appearance at the charity concert Change Begins Within of the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace on April 4, 2009 at Radio City Music Hall, New York , with Ringo Starr , Donovan , Paul Horn , Ben Harper , Eddie , among others Vedder , Sheryl Crow and Moby . With the concert proceeds, the foundation wants to give socially disadvantaged children the opportunity to learn Transcendental Meditation .
• Together with his two daughters, Stella and Mary, he founded the Meat Free Monday campaign , which advocates one vegetarian day a week to combat global warming.
• To save the London music club 100 Club from closing, Paul McCartney performed there in December 2010 in front of 300 listeners at a benefit concert.
• On December 12, 2012, the remaining band members of Nirvana played together for the first time live on a stage with the support of Paul McCartney in New York's Madison Square Garden . The occasion was a benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Sandy . They played Cut Me Some Slack .

Awards

Paul McCartney has received countless musical awards, platinum and gold records from around the world. He also owns the only rhodium record ever to be awarded by the Guinness Book of Records .

Star for Paul McCartney on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Other awards:

• 1965: Orden Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) (together with the other Beatles members)
• 1980: Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the title Rockestra Theme from the album Back to the Egg (first awarded)
• 1988: Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , performer (together with the other Beatles members)
• 1990: Namesake for the asteroid (4148) McCartney
• 1992: Polar Music Prize
• 1993: He received the British Academy Film Award for 'Best Animated Short' for the short animated film Daumier's Law , based on Honoré Daumier's lithographs in 1992 , which McCartney produced with his wife Linda and for which he had written the score . the film ran in the competition for the Palme d'Or in Cannes .
• 1997: Survey on Knight Bachelor ( nobility Sir ) and in the (personal, non-hereditary) peerage by Queen Elizabeth II.
• 1999: Induced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , performer
• 2001: World Award , presented by Mikhail Gorbachev
• 2003: Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sussex
• 2008: Honorary Doctorate from Yale University
• 2008: Honorary Award MTV Ultimate Legend Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Liverpool
• 2010: Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress
  

  Paul McCartney and Barack Obama 2010, presentation of the Gershwin Prize
• 2010: Kennedy Center Award for Lifelong Service to the Performing Arts
• 2010: Grand Cross of the Order of El Sol del Perú
• 2011: Grammy Awards 2011 , award for the title Helter Skelter from the live album Good Evening New York City in the category Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
• 2012: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (as the last of the Beatles)
• 2012: Grammy Awards 2012 , award for the band On The Run Deluxe Edition in the category Best Historical Album
• 2012: Admission as Foreign Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2012: Appointment as officer of the French Legion of Honor
• 2013: Grammy Awards 2013 , award for the album Kisses on the Bottom in the category Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
• 2014: Grammy Awards 2014 , awards for the song Cut Me Some Slack in the category Best Rock Song and for Live Kisses in the category Best Music Film
• 2016: UK's most successful albums act of all time (Paul McCartney reached number one position 22 times in Great Britain, 15 times with the Beatles and 7 times in his solo career; a total of these 22 albums were on for 191 weeks Number one on the charts)
• 2017: Medal Companion of Honor (CH)
• The music magazine Rolling Stone listed McCartney eleventh of the 100 best singers and second of the 100 best songwriters of all time (one position ahead of John Lennon).

Discography

→ Main article : Paul McCartney / Discography  and List of Paul McCartney Songs

Studio albums McCartney (1970) Ram (1971) (Paul & Linda McCartney ) Wild Life (1971) ( Wings ) Red Rose Speedway (1973) (Wings) Band on the Run (1973) (Wings) Venus and Mars (1975) (Wings) Wings at the Speed ​​of Sound (1976) (Wings) London Town (1978) (Wings) Back to the Egg (1979) (Wings) McCartney II (1980) Tug of War (1982) Pipes of Peace (1983) Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984) Press to Play (1986) Снова в СССР (1988) Flowers in the Dirt (1989) Off the Ground (1993) Flaming Pie (1997) Run Devil Run (1999) Driving Rain (2001) Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005) Memory Almost Full (2007) Kisses on the Bottom (2012) New (2013) Egypt Station (2018) Compilations Wings Greatest (1978) ( Wings) All the best! (1987) (with wings) Wingspan: Hits and History (2001) (with Wings) Pure McCartney (2016) (with Wings / The Fireman)

Concert albums Wings over America (1976) (Wings) Tripping the Live Fantastic (1990) Tripping the Live Fantastic - Highlights! (1990) Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) (1991) Paul Is Live (1993) Back in the US (2002) Back in the World (2003) iTunes Festival London (2007) (Download Live EP) Amoeba's Secret (2009) (Live EP, CD version) Good Evening New York City (2009) iTunes Live from Capitol Studios (2012) (Download Album) Amoeba Gig (2019) Classical works Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio (1991) (with  Carl Davis ) Standing Stone (1997) Working Classical (1999) Ecce Cor Meum (2006) Ocean's Kingdom (2011) other projects The Family Way (1967) (with George Martin ) Thrillington (1977) (as Percy Thrillington) The McCartney Interview (1981) Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (1993) ( The Fireman ) Rushes (1998) (The Fireman) Liverpool Sound Collage (2000) ( Remix album ) Twin Freaks (2005) (Remix album) Electric Arguments (2008) (The Fireman)

Books

• 2000: The Beatles Anthology , Ullstein, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-550-07132-9 .
• 2001: Blackbird Singing Poems and Lyrics 1965–1999 , ISBN 978-0-393-02049-6 (German edition: Blackbird Singing Poems and Songs 1965–1999 ).
• 2005: High in the Clouds , ISBN 978-0-525-47733-4 (German edition: Hoch in den Wolken , ISBN 978-3-570-13034-6 ).
• 2019: Hey Grandude! , ISBN 0525648674 .
• 2019: Less Meat, Less Heat - A Recipe for Our Planet , ISBN 978-3532610008 (German edition: Less Meat, Less Heat - A recipe for our planet , ISBN 978-3-532-62832-4 ).
• 2019: The Meat Free Monday Cookbook , ISBN 978-1906868697 (with Stella and Mary McCartney)

Conspiracy theory of his supposed death

→ Main article : Paul is dead

It has been rumored since 1969 that McCartney was killed in a car accident and replaced by a doppelganger. As alleged "evidence" one interpreted, among other things, some details on the cover of the LP Abbey Road , for example that McCartney is the only one of the Beatles to be seen barefoot, which is interpreted as a death symbol in Great Britain, since people are buried there without shoes. In addition, it is extraordinary that he - as a left-handed person - holds his cigarette in his right hand. These conspiracy theories were started by a radio host.

literature

• Ross Benson: Paul McCartney. Behind the myth . Gollancz, London 1992, ISBN 0-575-05200-7 .
• Judith Philipp: Paul McCartney, listen to what the man said. Paul McCartney and his songs . Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1993, ISBN 3-404-60348-6 .
• Petra Zeitz : Paul McCartney. A biography . Henschel, Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-89487-014-1 .
• Barry Miles : Paul McCartney. Many years from now . Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-499-60892-8 .
• The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology. Ullstein, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-550-07132-9 .
• Tony Barrow, Robin Bextor: Paul McCartney, now & then. Portrait of a singer and songwriter who changed the world of rock . Rockbuch Verlag Buhmann & Haeseler, Schlüchtern 2004, ISBN 3-927638-24-2 .
• Harald Martin: Paul McCartney . dtv, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-423-24317-1 .
• Rolf Berger: The compositional styles of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Shown with special consideration of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" (=  Osnabrück Contributions to Systematic Musicology . Volume 12 ). epOs Musik, Osnabrück 2006, ISBN 3-923486-81-2 (202 pages, dissertation , University of Osnabrück ).
• Howard Sounes: Paul McCartney - The Portrait . Droemer, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-426-27509-2 .
• Peter Ames Carlin: Paul McCartney - The Biography . Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2010, ISBN 978-3-85445-317-8 (original edition: Paul McCartney ).
• Volker Rebell : Paul McCartney: Yesterday & Today - a (critical) homage in songs, words and texts . Volker Rebell, Oberursel 2017, ISBN 978-3-9815456-0-9 , Mediabox with 5 CDs, booklet and 2 books.

Web links

Commons : Paul McCartney  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: Paul McCartney  - Quotes

• Official website of Paul McCartney
• Paul McCartney at laut.de
• Literature by and about Paul McCartney in the catalog of the German National Library
• Paul McCartney at Discogs (English)
• Paul McCartney biography in cosmopolis.ch

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Guinness World Records - 2009 Edition . Guinness Book of Records . Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
2. ^ Report on the divorce. In: Spiegel Online , accessed on March 17, 2008
3. ↑ Paul McCartney gets married - Ringo Starr is there . In: Berliner Morgenpost , October 9, 2011
4. ↑ ^{a b} Kate Connolly: McCartney Paternity Inquiry dropped. In: The Guardian , May 26, 2007 (English).
5. ↑ The Berliner Bettina Krischbin claims that her father is the famous ex-Beatle. The prosecutor is investigating. In: BZ , May 19, 2007
6. ↑ Papa Paul . In: Der Spiegel . No. 26 , 2007 ( online ).
7. ↑ Moers, Meier: The Beatles - History and Chronology . Hamburg 2000, p. 8, 65
8. ^ Tilman Baumgärtel: Loops. On the history and aesthetics of the loop . Kulturverlag Kadmos, Berlin 2015, p. 295-314 .
9. ↑ Nancy Cooke de Herrera: The Wise Men . Aquamarin-Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-89427-068-3 , p. 231 f.
10. ↑ Mia Farrow: What Falls Away . Bantam, 1991, ISBN 0-553-56466-8 .
11. ↑ Beatles spiritual guru 'never made a pass at Mia Farrow' . At: Telegraph.co.uk , February 19, 2006
12. ↑ Paul McCartney joked with George Harrison on his deathbed. At: Spiegel Online , July 2, 2008
13. ↑ McCartney: Yoko Ono not to blame for Beatles breakup on MSN.com
14. ^ McCartney - Deluxe Edition Book, p. 10.
15. ^ Text: How Do You Sleep
16. ^ Relationship between Paul McCartney and John Lennon in 1971
17. ↑ RAM-Deluxe Edition book, p. 39
18. ^ Lennon and McCartney recording session March 1974 ( Memento from December 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
19. ↑ Pictures John Lennon and Paul McCartney 1974
20. ↑ Paul McCartney in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
21. ^ Paintings
22. ^ Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics 1965-1999
23. ^ Paul McCartney. At: vip.de , accessed on September 4, 2019
24. ↑ Live 8 concert
25. ↑ High in the Clouds
26. ↑ Reminds us again who was the adventurous one in the Moptops . bbc.co.uk; Criticism; Retrieved January 19, 2011.
27. ↑ Paul and Ringo get back for new album . In: Daily Express, April 7, 2009
28. ↑ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr start comeback ( Memento from October 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: Gala , April 7, 2009
29. ↑ Program information at 3sat on the occasion of the broadcast of a concert recording on December 31, 2010. Accessed on January 2, 2011.
30. ↑ Jakob Biazza: There is a life before the Beatles. In: Focus , February 8, 2012, accessed on February 23, 2012.
31. ↑ Chris Talbott: Grammys Beatles Salute Includes Performance From Katy Perry, John Mayer . In: The Huffington Post , Jan. 28, 2014. 
32. Jump up ↑ Rihanna Dropped Her New Song With Kanye And Paul McCartney - Hear 'FourFiveSeconds' . mtv.com
33. ^ Shirley Halperin: Paul McCartney Signs Worldwide Deal with Capitol Records. In: Billboard , August 17, 2016 (English).
34. ^ McCartney lawsuit against Sony / ATV Music Publishing
35. ^ Settlement in the McCartney versus Sony / ATV Music Publishing litigation
36. ↑ Paul McCartney stars in "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" . At: musikexpress.de , May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
37. ^ "Egypt Station": Paul McCartney's strong late work. In: Focus . September 7, 2018, accessed September 13, 2018 . 
38. ↑ Freshen Up Tour
39. ↑ Starr / McCartney on December 16, 2018 during a McCartney concert
40. ↑ Starr / McCartney on July 13, 2019 during a McCartney concert
41. ↑ Less Meat, Less Heat
42. ↑ children's book Hey Grandude!
43. ↑ audiobook Hey Grandude!
44. ↑ McCartney as part of the benefit show "One World: Together At Home"
45. ↑ Cancellation of the Freshen-up tour 2020
46. ↑ McCartney on the death of George Floyd
47. ↑ Ringo Starr on the death of George Floyd
48. ↑ McCartney as part of the "Round Midnight Preserves" benefit event
49. ↑ meat.org: The site the Meat Industry Does not Want You to See
50. ^ McCartney and Starr reunite in NYC for meditation. ( Memento of April 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Reuters, April 5, 2009
51. ^ Paul, Ringo, Donovan and Mike Love promote TM at the Lynch Foundation press conference: the transcripts. ( Memento of July 30, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Transcript of the press conference, examiner.com, April 3, 2009
52. ^ Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr give concert. In: Focus , April 5, 2009.
53. ↑ Adam Vaughan: Paul McCartney backs 'meat free Monday' to cut carbon emissions . In: The Guardian . June 15, 2009, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed February 20, 2020]).
54. ^ Sir Paul McCartney celebrates decade of Meat Free Monday with new campaign. June 17, 2019, accessed February 20, 2020 . 
55. ^ Paul McCartney at the 100 Club
56. ↑ A world star can move everything . In: Der Spiegel . No. 38 , 1991 ( online ).
57. ↑ Minor Planet Circ. 16248 (PDF)
58. ↑ Sir Paul McCartney . polarmusicprize.org; Retrieved July 5, 2012.
59. ↑ Obama honors Paul McCartney for life's work. In: Focus , May 25, 2010.
60. ↑ Paul McCartney receives his star. ( Memento from February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: stern.de , February 2, 2012
61. ^ Newly elected members, April 2012 . (PDF; 96 kB) In: amacad.org
62. ↑ Paul McCartney receives the French Legion of Honor. In: Die Welt , September 8, 2012.
63. ↑ UK's most successful albums act of all time
64. ^ Queens Birthday Honors: McCartney a Companion of Honor
65. ↑ 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In: Rolling Stone . December 2, 2010, accessed August 8, 2017 . 
66. ↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. In: Rolling Stone . August 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 . 
67. ↑ Paul is dead ( Memento from April 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )