2010s
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…
IAN WADE
At the Hollywood Bowl in 2010
© Getty Images
Having been famous for half a century, the 2010s would see Paul McCartney achieve further milestones, and continue to remain relevant with new work and ever-increasing tours, in amongst all the career reflections and anniversaries.
The Up And Coming tour ran from March 28 2010 to the end of the year, seeing Paul play two legs of both South and North America – including two nights at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, the first time he’d been back there since The Beatles played in August 1965 – as well as across Europe, which saw him headline the Isle Of Wight and Hard Rock Calling festivals in the UK. The tour then reconvened in May 2011 for a further four dates in America.
THE TOUR SAW PAUL PLAY THE LEGENDARY HOLLYWOOD BOWL, THE FIRST TIME HE’D BEEN BACK THERE SINCE THE BEATLES PLAYED IN 1965
These dates also saw him play a benefit for The Old Vic theatre and Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium’s tenth anniversary supported by Manic Street Preachers. He also found time to surprise Ringo on his 70th birthday, when he popped in to perform Birthday with Ringo’s All-Starr Band at New York’s iconic Radio City Music Hall.
Even Barack Obama had him over to award McCartney the prestigious Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, joining the ranks of previous honourees Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon. Paul then performed a short set of Let It Be, Eleanor Rigby, Michelle (in tribute to Obama’s missus) and was joined by Stevie Wonder to perform Ebony And Ivory, before rounding proceedings off with Hey Jude. Obama was also on hand when McCartney was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors, which are doled out to those who have made a lasting impact on American culture. He’d originally been selected as an honoree in 2002, but couldn’t make it then as he was attending his cousin’s wedding. The Kennedy Center did plan to postpone it for a year, but decided against it for 2003.
To coincide with the first of McCartney’s reissue program, Band On The Run, Paul performed a host of songs from it on Later... With Jools Holland, and also made a documentary for ITV – where he discussed recording the album in Lagos, how he was mugged and the original demo tapes lost and also the story behind the cover art – which aired the night before the rerelease.
The Beatles finally got digital in November, with the advent of their albums becoming available on iTunes for the first time. Their full catalogue as well as the Past Masters and iconic Red and Blue collections were made available to download as either full albums or individual tunes. In the first seven days, the LPs had sold 450,000 ‘copies’ and individual tracks had been downloaded over two million times. Despite the industry’s expectations of a full chart takeover, only Hey Jude managed to make it back into the UK Top 40. There was also the release of The McCartney Years, a DVD box that compiled music videos and career-spanning live performances along with a personal commentary by Paul himself.
Onstage at the 2010 Isle Of Wight Festival alongside Brian Ray
© Getty Images
Onstage for the On The Run tour at Yankee Stadium
© Getty Images
By July 2011, McCartney was off on another world tour, entitled On The Run, which saw him perform 37 shows across Europe and America, playing such prestigious venues as the Yankee Stadium and the Royal Albert Hall, as well as a one-off date at the Yas Arena in Abu Dhabi as part of the season finale of Yasalam, the largest city-wide entertainment program ever seen by any F1 Grand Prix host city. The tour saw him play some songs that his current live band hadn’t performed before, such as the Latin-tinged 1993 Top 20 hit Hope Of Deliverance, which was played in South America.
When asked by Times journalist Caitlin Moran, as to what he got out of playing live, he replied, “I like… displaying the stuff... I want to give people a good night out... If I go to see Prince —I mean, I love his guitar playing, but I want him to play Purple Rain. I’m probably going to be disappointed if he doesn’t do it. If I went to see the Stones, I’d want them to do Ruby Tuesday, Honky Tonk Women and Satisfaction. So I’m basically talking hits. Why are hits hits? It’s because we like them. They’re the best ones.”