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Quick Facts
- NAME: Paul McCartney
- OCCUPATION: Animal Rights Activist, Songwriter, Singer
- BIRTH DATE: June 18, 1942 (Age: 71)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Liverpool, England, United Kingdom
- Full Name: Sir James Paul McCartney
- ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini
Best Known For
Paul McCartney is a former member of the Beatles and one of the most popular solo performers of all time.
Videos see all videos
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John Lennon - Mini Biography (7:55)
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Women of The Beatles - Linda Eastman
Rolling Stone's David Wild and People Magazine's JD Heyman discuss the tough start of Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman?s relationship.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Musical Lovers
Watch a short video about John Lennon and Yoko Ono to learn how the creative couple met and made sweet music together.
John Lennon - Mini Biography
A short biography of John Lennon, from his superstardom with the Beatles to his fame as a solo artist and social activist, to his marriage to Yoko Ono. In 1980, Lennon was gunned down by Mark David Chapman.
George Harrison - The End of Folk
George Harrison on the day in Albert Hall when Bob Dylan went electric, ending the folk music scene.
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Play NowPaul McCartney. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:39, Jun 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/paul-mccartney-9390850.
Paul McCartney. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/paul-mccartney-9390850 [Accessed 18 Jun 2013].
"Paul McCartney." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 18 2013, 01:39 http://www.biography.com/people/paul-mccartney-9390850.
"Paul McCartney," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/paul-mccartney-9390850 [accessed Jun 18, 2013].
"Paul McCartney," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/paul-mccartney-9390850 (accessed Jun 18, 2013).
Paul McCartney [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 18] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/paul-mccartney-9390850.
Paul McCartney, http://www.biography.com/people/paul-mccartney-9390850 (last visited Jun 18, 2013).
Paul McCartney. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/paul-mccartney-9390850. Accessed Jun 18, 2013.
Synopsis
Paul McCartney was born June 18, 1942, in Liverpool, England. His work with the Beatles in the 1960s helped lift popular music from its origins in the entertainment business and transform it into a creative, highly commercial art form. He is also one of the most popular solo performers of all time in terms of both sales of his recordings and attendance at his concerts.
Quotes
"Why would I retire? Sit at home and watch TV? No thanks. I'd rather be out playing."
Early Life
Sir James Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942, in Liverpool, England, to Mary and James McCartney. His mother was a maternity nurse, and his father a cotton salesman and jazz pianist with a local band. The young McCartney was raised in a traditional working-class family, much the same as his future fellow Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Tragically, when McCartney was only 14 years old, his mother died of complications after a mastectomy. His future bandmate, John Lennon, also lost his mother at a young age—a connection that McCartney would later point to as the start of a close bond between the two musicians.
Encouraged by his father to try out multiple musical instruments, Paul McCartney began his lifelong love affair with music at an early age. Though he took formal music lessons as a boy, the future star preferred to learn by ear, teaching himself the Spanish guitar, trumpet and piano. In 1957, the teenaged musician met John Lennon at a church festival where both young men were performing. Sensing an early affinity, McCartney joined Lennon's band, the Quarrymen. The two quickly became the group's songwriters, ushering it through many name changes and a few personnel changes as well.
The Beatles
By 1960, the group had settled on a new moniker, the Beatles, and George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best rounded out the group. The soon-to-be legendary "mod squad" started out in the 1960s in Hamburg, Germany, spending two years playing various nightclubs there. Sutcliffe soon left the band, leaving McCartney to pick up the slack as the group's bass player. While in Hamburg, the Beatles recorded their first tracks, garnering the attention of Brian Epstein, who quickly signed on as the band's manager. It wasn't long before the Beatles headed back to their home country and began working their way into the popular consciousness there. And Best's replacement by drummer Ringo Starr only helped the group gain steam.
The impact that the Beatles would ultimately have on '60s popular culture is hard to overstate. "Beatlemania" soon gripped the world, and when the group made their debut in America, the media dubbed the period of musical crossover between the two nations the "British Invasion." Little could they know at the time, this era would truly have a lasting impact on rock 'n' roll.
During a decade full of political and social strife, the Beatles expressed the broader hopes of their contemporaries for peace, love and rock 'n' roll. McCartney in particular would write more hits for the band than any other member. Songs like "Yesterday," "Hey Jude," "Let It Be," "Yellow Submarine" and "Hello, Goodbye" would provide the soundtrack for a generation.
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The Beatles
View groupThe Beatles were a legendary rock group that formed in Liverpool, England, in 1960, and went on to transform popular music as a creative, highly commercial art form over the next decade. The Beatles were one of the most popular bands of all time, producing songs like "Yesterday, "Hey Jude," "Penny Lane, "With A Little Help From My Friends," "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)," "Day Tripper" and "Come Together." Learn more about the "Fab Four"—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—by exploring our Beatles collection.
The Beatles 4 people in this group
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Apple Icons
View groupSteve Jobs wasn't the only person in history to turn the apple into a significant cultural symbol. Somewhere in between the origin of the Adam and Eve story and the invention of the iPod, there were dozens of notable people who transformed the forbidden fruit into a significant statement.
Apple Icons 10 people in this group
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- In this group:
- Paul McCartney
- Heather Mills
Heather Mills and Paul McCartney
View groupIn 2002, four years after the death of his wife Linda, former Beatle Paul McCartney married model Heather Mills—without a prenuptial agreement. After having a baby, the couple separated in 2006. Mills talked to the press, and the divorce turned bitter. In 2008, Mills walked away with $50 million.
Heather Mills and Paul McCartney 2 people in this group
presented by Heather Mills and Paul McCartney -
