A co-lead vocalist, bassist, and principal songwriter for The Beatles, Paul McCartney one of the most popular solo performers in terms of sales of his recordings and attendance at his concerts. Born June 18, 1942, Liverpool, England, McCartney was raised in a working-class family. When McCartney was 14, his mother died of breast cancer, which had a profound effect on his life and later his music.
Encouraged by his father, who was the leader of Jim Mac’s Jazz Band, McCartney began learning and experimenting with music. By age 16, he had already written “When I’m Sixty-Four,” hoping to sell it to Frank Sinatra. In 1957, he met John Lennon in a local festival where Lennon’s band, the Quarrymen, which after several name changes became the Beatles, were performing. McCartney was soon invited to become a member and the two became the group’s songwriters. They agreed that all of their songs would be credited to Lennon-McCartney, no matter who had taken lead or, as happened occasionally, written the songs entirely on their own.
Lennon, just like McCartney, was affected by the loss of his mother, who died in a car accident caused by a speeding police car. That created a strong bond between them. Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting partnership was very important to them, both financially and creatively. Even when they had some problems over business at the end of the 6o’s, Lennon brought the song to McCartney’s place so they could work on it together.
Many of the Beatles’ harder rock songs were done by McCartney like Lady Madonna, Back in the USSR, and Helter Skelter. McCartney also played drums on some Beatles tracks and played all the instruments on some of his solo albums.
After the Beatles breakup in 1970, McCartney recorded two solo albums, McCartney and Ram. After that, McCartney with his wife Linda whom he had married in 1969, formed the band Wings. Wings toured the world and became the best-selling of the 1970s until he had to stop touring for nearly a decade, fearing for his own safety and that of his family, after John Lennon was fatally shot four times in the back in 1980
During that time, he decided to focus heavily on studio recordings and film projects. In 1997, McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II “for services to music.” The next year Linda died of cancer.
In the years that followed, McCartney continued to record and perform as a solo artist. He produced new albums every few years, and for most of the ’80s and ’90s, he focused more on producing several successful films.
In 2023, McCartney created a new Beatles single, “Now and Then,” featuring Lennon’s voice extricated from a 1978 home demo tape using AI for stem separation.
Now and Then earned the Beatles two 2025 Grammy nominations, the first for the group since 1997, for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance.
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