McCARTNEY WELCOME

OF THE COPIOUS COLUMN INCHES DEDICATED TO THE BEATLES, LITTLE OR NOTHING HAS BEEN LEFT TO FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS UNEXAMINED. BUT, REGARDLESS OF THAT OFTEN EXCESSIVE SCRUTINY, THERE REMAINS A NAGGING FEELING THAT SOMETHING’S MISSING… WE KNOW THE BAND INSIDE OUT, BUT DO WE REALLY KNOW THE SUM OF ITS PARTS? A KIND OF MARTYRDOM WAS IMPOSED UPON JOHN LENNON, BUT MCCARTNEY’S REPUTATION IS MORE COMPLEX. WHO IS THE MAN BEHIND THOSE AFFABLE, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY “TWO THUMBS ALOFT” GESTURES?

Riding In The Sky

OF ALL THE BEATLES, PAUL MCCARTNEY WAS REGARDED AS THE ONE WITH THE COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL. HE WAS, THEREFORE, ALSO ARGUABLY THE ONE UNDER MOST PRESSURE TO SUCCEED IN THE SEVENTIES. BUT DID HE? WELL, HE DID AND HE DIDN’T…

COMING UP AGAIN

HE MADE HISTORY IN THE SIXTIES AND FORMED ONE OF THE BIGGEST BANDS OF THE SEVENTIES. WHAT DID PAUL MCCARTNEY DO FOR AN ENCORE IN THE EIGHTIES? WELL, HE HAD TO ENDURE THE LOSS OF A FELLOW BEATLE AND COPE WITH DRUG BUSTS AND CRITICAL DISDAIN – AND THAT’S JUST FOR STARTERS…

KEY RECORDINGS

COMING UP (1980) It is astonishing to think

HIS BRAVE FACE

In Tokyo: it would be the 1990s before

BACK IN THE SUN

AFTER THE DEVASTATION OF LOSING LINDA AT THE END OF THE NINETIES, THE NEW MILLENNIUM HERALDED A DECADE OF CHANGES FOR PAUL MCCARTNEY, BOTH PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY – AND THERE WERE A FEW COSTLY MISTAKES LURKING AMIDST THE CHAOS AND THE CREATION…

NOTHING TO LOSE

IN THE DECADE HE TOASTED HIS 70TH BIRTHDAY, SIR PAUL SHOWED FEW SIGNS OF CREATIVE FATIQUE, TEAMING UP WITH SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST CUTTING-EDGE ARTISTS…

DAYS LIKE THESE

HE’S BEEN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS MUSICIANS FOR 60 YEARS, AND THE GONGS AND AWARDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR-LANDSLIDE LEVELS – YET PAUL MCCARTNEY HAS GRABBED EVERY CHANCE TO PROVE HE CAN STILL ROCK THOSE CLASSIC SONGS LIKE A TEENAGER…

KEY RECORDINGS

A ‘deep fake’ young Macca from the Find

McCARTNEY WITH... STEVIE WONDER

THEIR PARTNERSHIP IS DEFINED BY THEIR POLARISING DUET EBONY AND IVORY, BUT PAUL AND STEVIE WONDER’S KINSHIP EXTENDS FAR BEYOND THEIR UBIQUITOUS HIT SINGLE

McCARTNEY WITH... MICHAEL JACKSON

OF ALL PAUL MCCARTNEY’S COLLABORATIONS, THE ONE FOR WHICH HE’LL BE BEST REMEMBERED IS WITH JOHN LENNON – BUT HE DIDN’T DO TOO BADLY WITH MICHAEL JACKSON

Love and Liverpool

THE NINETIES WOULD BE THE DECADE OF PAUL MCCARTNEY’S VINDICATION. ARMED WITH A NEWFOUND SENSE OF EXPERIMENTALISM, HE PRODUCED SOME OF HIS MOST INTERESTING AND ECLECTIC WORK – THOUGH TRAGEDY LAY AHEAD…

McCARTNEY WITH... ELVIS COSTELLO

THE ONE-TIME ATTRACTION WAS DETERMINED NOT TO BE STAR-STRUCK BY THE ONE-TIME BEATLE, AND THIS LIVERPUDLIAN PAIRING EXPOSED A RICH SEAM OF NEW SONGS…

McCARTNEY WITH... KANYE WEST

WHEN MACCA MET YEEZY: DESPITE THE INEVITABLE SCEPTICISM, THE RESULTS OF PAUL MCCARTNEY AND KANYE WEST’S BRIEF GET-TOGETHER WERE NONE TOO SHABBY…

McCARTNEY WITH... OTHER ARTISTS

ASIDE FROM MCCARTNEY’S CLASSIC DUETS THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER FLIRTATIONS WORTHY OF MENTION, NOT LEAST HIS WORK WITH NITIN SAWHNEY – AND, ODDLY, A CELERY HABIT…

CLASSIC POP

UNDER THE WING © Getty Images Paul and

AND IN THE END...

BRICKS THROUGH WINDOWS! NOT BEING ABLE TO GET OUT OF BED! REACHING FOR THE WHISKY! WRITS! HITS! TIRESOME FORMER BANDMATES! ALL THESE, AND MORE, MADE UP A TYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF PAUL MCCARTNEY AFTER THE BEATLES SPLIT…

JOHN VS PAUL

© Getty Images 1972, and Lennon plays

BAND ON THE RUN

PAUL MCCARTNEY AND WINGS

BAND ON THE CHARTS

SLOW BURNER

PAUL AND THE GANG

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

ELECTRO CLASH

PAUL MCCARTNEY GOES... DANCE? YOU’D BETTER BELIEVE IT. HAVING PROVED HIMSELF ADEPT AT TURNING HIS HAND TO MANY STYLES IN THE PAST, IT WAS WITH THE FIREMAN WHERE HE REALLY WENT FOR IT – EVEN IF HE DIDN’T ADMIT TO IT FOR A WHILE

WORKING CLASSICAL HERO

HAVING PIONEERED THE INTEGRATION OF CLASSICAL AND POP UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF GEORGE MARTIN, IT WAS OVER 25 YEARS BEFORE MCCARTNEY FELT ASSURED ENOUGH TO FULLY IMMERSE HIMSELF IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD…

IN HIS OWN WORDS

WHETHER IT’S THE ART OF SONGWRITING, PHILOSOPHY, ANIMAL RIGHTS AND VEGETARIANISM, OR SIMPLY TO CONFIRM THAT HE’S STILL WITH US, PAUL MCCARTNEY HAS ALWAYS HAD A WAY WITH WORDS…