1957–1960

On 6 July 1957, when he was aged fifteen, McCartney met Lennon and The Quarrymen

The Quarrymen

The Quarrymen are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, initially formed in Liverpool in 1956, that eventually evolved into The Beatles in 1960...

 at the Woolton

Woolton

Woolton is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located at the south of the city, bordered by Gateacre, Hunts Cross, Allerton and Halewood. At the 2001 Census the population was recorded as 14,836.-History:...

 (St. Peter's church hall) fête. At the start of their friendship, Lennon's Aunt Mimi disapproved of McCartney because he was, she said, "working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

", and called him "John's little friend". McCartney's father told his son that Lennon would get him "into trouble", although he later allowed The Quarrymen to rehearse in the front room at 20 Forthlin Road.

McCartney formed a close working relationship with Lennon and they collaborated on many songs. He convinced Lennon to allow Harrison to join The Quarrymen (Lennon thought Harrison was too young) after Lennon heard Harrison play at a rehearsal in March 1958. Harrison joined the group as lead guitarist, followed by Lennon's art school

Art school

Art school is a general term for any educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. The term applies to institutions with elementary, secondary, post-secondary or undergraduate, or graduate or...

 friend, Stuart Sutcliffe

Stuart Sutcliffe

Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe was a Scottish artist and musician, best known as the original bass player of The Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue a career as an artist, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art...

, on bass, although McCartney was later dismissive about Sutcliffe's musical ability. By May 1960, they had tried several new names, including The Silver Beetles

The Quarrymen

The Quarrymen are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, initially formed in Liverpool in 1956, that eventually evolved into The Beatles in 1960...

; playing a tour of Scotland under that name with Johnny Gentle

Larry Parnes

Laurence Maurice "Larry" Parnes was an English pop manager and impresario. He has been described as "the first major British rock manager... Parnes' stable encompassed most of the most successful pre-Beatles British rock singers."...

. They finally changed the name of the group to The Beatles for their performances in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

.

1960–1970: The Beatles

Starting in May 1960, The Beatles were managed by Allan Williams

Allan Williams

Allan Williams is a former businessman and promoter of Welsh descent. He was the original booking agent of The Beatles...

, who booked them into Bruno Koschmider

Bruno Koschmider

Bruno Koschmider was a German entrepreneur in Hamburg, Germany best known for employing The Beatles in the early 1960s...

's Indra club in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

. The Beatles first played at the Indra club, sleeping in small, "dirty" rooms in the Bambi Kino

Bruno Koschmider

Bruno Koschmider was a German entrepreneur in Hamburg, Germany best known for employing The Beatles in the early 1960s...

, and then moved (after the closure of the Indra) to the larger Kaiserkeller

Kaiserkeller

Kaiserkeller is a night club in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg, Germany, near the Reeperbahn. It was opened by Bruno Koschmider on October 14, 1959. The Beatles had a contract with Kaiserkeller to play there in 1960.-Biography:...

. In October 1960, they left Koschmider's club and worked at the "Top Ten Club", which was run by Peter Eckhorn. When McCartney and Pete Best

Pete Best

Pete Best is a British musician, best known as the original drummer in The Beatles. He was born in the city of Madras, British India...

 went back to the Bambi Kino to get their belongings they found it in almost total darkness. As a snub to Koschmider, they found a condom

Condom

A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...

, attached it to a nail on the concrete wall of their room, and set fire to it. There was no real damage, but Koschmider reported them for attempted arson

Arson

Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

. McCartney and Best spent three hours in a local jail and were deported, as was Harrison, for working under the legal age limit.

The group reunited in December 1960, and on 21 March 1961, played their first of many concerts at Liverpool's Cavern club. McCartney realised that other Liverpool bands were playing the same cover songs, which prompted him and Lennon to write more original material. The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, and recorded "My Bonnie

My Bonnie

My Bonnie is the name of a 1961 single, a 1962 album and a 1963 EP by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers, better known as The Beatles.-History:...

" with Tony Sheridan

Tony Sheridan

Tony Sheridan , is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist...

. Sutcliffe left the band after the end of their contract, so McCartney reluctantly took over bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

. After borrowing Sutcliffe's Höfner 500/5 model for a short time, he bought a left-handed 1962 500/1 model Höfner

Höfner

Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments....

 bass. On 1 October 1961, McCartney went with Lennon (who paid for the trip) to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 for two weeks.

The Beatles were first seen by Brian Epstein

Brian Epstein

Brian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...

 at the Cavern club on 9 November 1961, and he later signed them to a management contract. The Beatles' road manager

Road manager

In music industry, a Road Manager is a person who works with small to mid-sized tours...

, Neil Aspinall

Neil Aspinall

Neil Stanley Aspinall was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head The Beatles' company Apple Corps....

, drove them to London on 31 December 1961, where they auditioned the next day, but were rejected by Decca Records

Decca Records

Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

. In April 1962, they went back to Hamburg to play at the Star-Club

Star-Club

The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany that opened Friday 13 April 1962 and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the sixties, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 31 December 1969 and the building it occupied was...

, and learned of Stuart Sutcliffe's

Stuart Sutcliffe

Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe was a Scottish artist and musician, best known as the original bass player of The Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue a career as an artist, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art...

 death a few hours before they arrived. The Beatles were ready to sign a record contract on 9 May 1962, with Parlophone

Parlophone

Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...

 Records—after having been rejected by many record companies—but Epstein sacked Pete Best (at the behest of McCartney, Lennon and Harrison; Best's replacement was Richard Starkey, whose stage name was Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr

Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

, from Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, although he had already performed, occasionally, with The Beatles in Hamburg) before they signed the contract. "Love Me Do

Love Me Do

"Love Me Do" is The Beatles' first single, backed by "P.S. I Love You" and released on 5 October 1962. When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom, it peaked at number seventeen; in 1982 it was re-issued and reached number four...

" was released on 5 October 1962, featuring McCartney singing solo on the chorus line. Over the course of the next two years, McCartney and his band mates would rise from relative obscurity to international stardom, an unprecedented feat at that time for a rock-music combo.
All Lennon-McCartney songs on the first pressing of the Please Please Me

Please Please Me

Please Please Me is the debut album by the English rock band The Beatles. Parlophone rush-released the album on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom to capitalise on the success of singles "Please Please Me" and "Love Me Do" .Of the album's fourteen songs, eight were written by Lennon–McCartney...

album (recorded in one day on 11 February 1963) as well as the "Please Please Me

Please Please Me (song)

"Please Please Me" is a song and the second single released by The Beatles in the United Kingdom, and the first to be issued in the United States. It was also the title track of their first LP, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single...

" single, "From Me to You

From Me to You

"From Me to You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles as a single in 1963. The single was the Beatles' first number one in some of the United Kingdom charts, second in others, but failed to make an impact in the United States at the time of its initial...

", and its B-side, "Thank You Girl

Thank You Girl

"Thank You Girl" is a song by The Beatles and released as the B-side of "From Me to You", which was recorded on the same day . While not released on an LP in the United Kingdom until Rarities in 1978, the single was featured as the second track on The Beatles' Second Album in the United States...

", are credited to "McCartney-Lennon", but this was later changed to "Lennon-McCartney". They usually needed an hour or two to finish a song, which were written in hotel rooms after a concert, at Wimpole Street, at Cavendish Avenue, or at Kenwood

Kenwood, St. George's Hill

Kenwood is a house on the St. George's Hill estate, Weybridge, Surrey, England. Originally called the Brown House, it was designed by architect T.A. Allen, and built in 1913 by local builders, Love & Sons. The estate was constructed around the Weybridge Golf Club, which was designed in 1912 by...

 (Lennon's house). McCartney also wrote songs for other artists, such as Billy J. Kramer

Billy J. Kramer

Billy J. Kramer is a British Invasion/Merseybeat singer. In the 1960s he was managed by Brian Epstein, who also managed The Beatles, and he recorded several original Lennon and McCartney compositions.-Early life and career:He grew up as the youngest of seven siblings and attended the St George of...

, Cilla Black

Cilla Black

Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

, Badfinger

Badfinger

Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...

, and Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....

 -and most notably he wrote two hit songs for the group Peter & Gordon-launching their career. One song, "World Without Love", became a #1 hit in the U.K. & U.S. (Peter was the brother of Jane Asher

Jane Asher

Jane Asher is an English actress. She has also developed a second career as a cake decorator and cake shop proprietor.-Early life:...

, McCartney's girlfriend at the time)

By 1965 Lennon, Harrison, and Starr had bought large houses in the Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

 'stockbroker belt', but McCartney continued to live in central London: first in Jane Asher's parents' house, and then at 7 Cavendish Avenue, St John's Wood

St John's Wood

St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...

, near the Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...

. It was at Cavendish Avenue that McCartney bought his first Old English Sheepdog

Old English Sheepdog

The Old English Sheepdog is a large breed of dog which was developed in England from early herding types of dog. The Old English Sheepdog has very long fur covering the face and eyes...

, Martha, whose name ostensibly inspired the song "Martha My Dear

Martha My Dear

"Martha My Dear" is a Beatles song written by Paul McCartney , which first appeared on the double album The Beatles . McCartney is the only Beatle to appear on this track.-Style and form:...

", but which is actually about the end of McCartney and Asher's relationship.

McCartney often went to nightclubs alone, which offered 'dining and dancing until 4:00 a.m.' and featured cabaret

Cabaret

Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

 acts. McCartney would get preferential treatment everywhere he went, which he readily accepted. He even once accepted an offer from a policeman

Policing in the United Kingdom

Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland ....

 to be allowed to park McCartney's car. He later visited gambling

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

 clubs after 4:00am, such as 'The Curzon House', and often saw Epstein there. The Ad Lib club (above the Prince Charles Theatre at 7 Leicester Place) was later opened for the emerging 'Rock and Roll' crowd of musicians, and tolerated their unusual lifestyle. After the Ad Lib fell out of favour, McCartney moved on to the Scotch of St James

Scotch of St James

The Scotch of St James club was a popular meeting place for rock musicians during the mid 1960s situated at 13 Masons Yard, Westminster, London SW1...

, at 13 Masons Yard. He also frequented The Bag O'Nails

The Bag O'Nails

The Bag O'Nails was a live music venue and meeting place for musicians in the 1960s, situated at 8 Kingly Street, Soho, London. Bands and other musicians such as, Georgie Fame and Gass appeared there, often jamming with artists such as Jimi Hendrix...

 club at 8 Kingly Street in Soho

Soho

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where he met Linda Eastman

Linda Eastman

Linda Anne Eastman was an American librarian. She was selected by the American Library Association as one of the 100 most important librarians of the 20th century....

.

On 31 June 1965, The Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (MBE); they received their insignia from Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 at an investiture

Investiture

Investiture, from the Latin is a rather general term for the formal installation of an incumbent...

 at Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...

 on 26 October 1965. They stopped touring after their last concert at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, on 29 August 1966.

McCartney was the first to be involved in a project outside of the group, when he composed the score for the film The Family Way

The Family Way

The Family Way is a 1966 British comedy-drama film based on Bill Naughton's play All in Good Time . It began life in 1961 as a television play entitled Honeymoon Postponed....

in 1966. The soundtrack was later released as an album (also called The Family Way

The Family Way (soundtrack)

The Family Way is a soundtrack recording composed by Paul McCartney, released in January 1967. The album is the soundtrack to a late 1966 film of the same name, directed by Roy Boulting and starring Hayley Mills...

), and won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Instrumental Theme, ahead of acclaimed jazz musician Mike Turner. McCartney wrote songs for and produced other artists, including Mary Hopkin, Badfinger

Badfinger

Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...

, and the Bonzo Dog Band, and in 1966, he was asked by Kenneth Tynan

Kenneth Tynan

Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...

 to write the songs for the National Theatre's

Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...

 production of As You Like It

As You Like It

As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...

by William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 (starring Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

) but declined. In 1968 he co-produced the song "I'm the Urban Spaceman

I'm the Urban Spaceman

"I'm the Urban Spaceman" was the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band's most successful single, released in 1968. It reached #5 in the UK charts. The song was written by Neil Innes and produced by Paul McCartney and Gus Dudgeon under the pseudonym "Apollo C. Vermouth". The B-side was written by Viv Stanshall...

" by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band are a band created by a group of British art-school denizens of the 1960s...

 and was credited as "Apollo C. Vermouth" because of contractual restrictions. In 1969, he recorded with the Steve Miller Band

Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California. The band is managed by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals, and is known for a string of mid-1970s hit singles that are staples of the classic rock radio format.-History:In 1965, Steve Miller and...

 (under the pseudonym Paul Ramon), playing drums and bass and singing backing vocals for two tracks on the album Brave New World

Brave New World (Steve Miller Band album)

Brave New World is the third album by American rock band The Steve Miller Band, released in 1969. The tracks "Celebration Song" and "My Dark Hour" featured Paul McCartney on backing vocals, drums and bass guitar credited as Paul Ramon....

.

McCartney later attempted to persuade Lennon and Harrison to return to the stage, and when they had a meeting to sign a new contract with Capitol Records

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

, McCartney suggested "going back to our roots," to which Lennon replied, "I think you're mad!" Although Lennon had quit the group in September 1969, and Harrison and Starr had temporarily left the group at various times, McCartney was the one who publicly announced The Beatles' breakup

The Beatles' breakup

The Beatles' break-up describes the events related to the break-up of The Beatles, one of the most popular and influential musical groups in history. The break-up has become almost as much of a legend as the band itself or the music they created while together...

 on 10 April 1970—one week before releasing his first solo album, McCartney

McCartney (album)

McCartney is the debut solo album by Paul McCartney. Apart from Linda McCartney's vocal contributions, McCartney performed the entire album solo...

which was a global hit and sold over 10 million copies. The album included a press release inside with a self-written interview stating McCartney's hopes about the future. The Beatles' partnership was legally dissolved after McCartney filed a lawsuit

Lawsuit

A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...

 on 31 December 1970.

1970 to present

After the breakup of The Beatles, McCartney started to be called "Macca" as a nickname. Since 1970 he has continued to work in popular music, both with solo work and in a number of collaborations, including the group Wings

Wings (band)

Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....

 which was active between 1971 and 1981 with numerous successful singles and albums (see discography). McCartney has also had involvement in classical music.

Wings

In August 1971, drummer Denny Seiwell and guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

ist/singer Denny Laine

Denny Laine

Denny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder of Wings...

 joined Paul and Linda McCartney

Linda McCartney

Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....

 to record Paul's third post-Beatles project on Apple Records

Apple Records

Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...

. The result was Wild Life, released December 7. It was the first project to credit Wings

Wings (band)

Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....

 as the artist, and not McCartney. Following the release of Wild Life, Wings started an unplanned tour of British universities

Wings University Tour

Wings University Tour was a UK concert tour by Paul McCartney & Wings in 1972, shortly after the band's formation and initial album release, Wild Life. McCartney had formed Wings for the purpose of having a band to go on the road with, and he wasted no time in doing just that...

 and small European venues in 1972. In February of that year, they released a single called "Give Ireland Back to the Irish

Give Ireland Back to the Irish

"Give Ireland Back to the Irish" is a Paul and Linda McCartney song written in response to the events of Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland on 30 January 1972...

", which was banned by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

. Wings then embarked on the 26-date Wings Over Europe Tour

Wings Over Europe Tour

In the summer of 1972, Paul McCartney's newly formed band, Wings, set out on a concert tour of Europe. Coming on the heels of a tour of English universities, the Wings Over Europe Tour was intended to promote recent singles "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb", as well as...

.

The first of Wings' two 1973 albums Red Rose Speedway

Red Rose Speedway

-Additional tracks:-Original LP Recording:Originally planned as a double album, this is the tracklisting from the acetates of the early incarnation of the album dated 13 December 1972...

spawned the band's first #1 in the United States, "My Love" (#2 in Canada). Wings then released the theme song

Live and Let Die (song)

"Live and Let Die" is the main theme song of the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die and was performed by Paul McCartney & Wings for the movie soundtrack and appears on the soundtrack album. The song was one of Wings' most successful singles, and the most successful Bond theme to that point...

 for the James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 film Live and Let Die

Live and Let Die (film)

Live and Let Die is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...

, which narrowly missed the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It reunited McCartney with George Martin, who both produced the song and arranged the orchestral break. Their second 1973 album Band on the Run

Band on the Run

Band on the Run is an album by Paul McCartney & Wings, released in 1973. It was Wings' third album. It became Wings' most successful album and remains the most celebrated of McCartney's post-Beatles albums...

, which won two Grammy Awards is Wings' most lauded work. It became Wings' biggest selling album of the 1970s with sales of over 6 million just in the USA alone. From it were released the singles "Jet

Jet (song)

"Jet" is a song by Paul McCartney & Wings from their album Band on the Run. The song peaked at number 7 in both the British and American charts on 30 March 1974. Along with "Helen Wheels" and "Junior's Farm", it is another McCartney song where his primary inspiration for composing the song arose in...

" (#7 U.S.), "Band on the Run

Band on the Run (song)

"Band on the Run" is the title song from Paul McCartney & Wings' acclaimed Band on the Run album. The single sold one million copies in 1974 in the United States, where it reached number 1, and it went to number 3 in the United Kingdom...

" (#1 U.S.), "Helen Wheels

Helen Wheels

"Helen Wheels" is a song by Paul McCartney & Wings. The song was named after Paul and Linda McCartney's Land Rover, which they nicknamed "Hell on Wheels"....

" (#10 U.S.) In terms of recording activity 1974 was a calm year. McCartney had Wings work on his brother Mike McGear's self-titled album. A trip to Nashville produced "Junior's Farm

Junior's Farm

"Junior's Farm" is a song written by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by Paul McCartney and Wings. A number-three hit single in the United States, it was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in 1974, while the band was staying at the farm of Curly Putman Jr., which accounts for the title. The...

" (#3 U.S.). In Nashville, he also recorded an instrumental, "Walking in the Park with Eloise", which had been written by his father. The song featured Wings, Floyd Cramer

Floyd Cramer

Floyd Cramer was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville sound." He popularized the "slip note" piano style where an out-of-tune note slides effortlessly into the correct note...

 and Chet Atkins

Chet Atkins

Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...

. Venus and Mars

Venus and Mars

Venus and Mars is the fourth album by Wings. Released as the follow-up to the enormously successful Band on the Run, Venus and Mars continued Wings' string of success and would prove a springboard for a year-long worldwide tour...

was released in 1975, which featured "Listen to What the Man Said" (#1 U.S.) and "Rock Show." In September 1975, Wings embarked on the Wings Over the World tour

Wings Over the World tour

In 1975 and 1976, Wings embarked on the ambitious Wings Over the World tour.-History:In contrast to Wings' two low-profile, smaller-scale outings of 1972, this was a major, highly publicised concert tour that took place mostly in arenas...

, the American leg of which was documented on the 1976 triple album Wings over America

Wings over America

Wings over America is the sixth album by Wings and their only live album. In its initial release, it was a triple album and included a poster of the band.-Recording history:...

. Wings had the biggest US hit of their career and the #1 song of the year 1976 with the 5-week #1 hit "Silly Love Songs

Silly Love Songs

Silly Love Songs is a song written by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by Wings. The song appeared on the 1976 album, Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was also released as a single in 1976. The US single was released on 1 April 1976 and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The UK single was...

". Their Wings at the Speed of Sound

Wings at the Speed of Sound

Wings at the Speed of Sound is the fifth album by Wings and was recorded and issued in 1976 in the midst of a large world tour as the follow-up album to the popular Venus and Mars.- History :...

album (1976) was notable for the fact that all members had a lead vocal. Apart from "Silly Love Songs", the album also spawned the hit "Let 'Em In

Let 'em In

"Let 'Em In" is a song by Wings from their 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney and reached the top 3 in both the United States and the United Kingdom: It was a #2 hit in the UK, and in the US it was a #3 pop hit and #1 easy listening hit...

" (#3 U.S.).

In 1977, Wings released "Maybe I'm Amazed

Maybe I'm Amazed

"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by Paul McCartney that was first released on his McCartney album on 17 April 1970. The studio version from the album has never been released as a single. McCartney dedicated the song to his wife, Linda, who had helped him get through the break-up of The Beatles...

", a live version recorded in 1976, which reached the U.S. Top Ten. Later that year, "Mull of Kintyre

Mull of Kintyre (song)

"Mull of Kintyre" is a song written by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine and performed by Wings. The song was written in tribute to the picturesque Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, where McCartney has owned High Park Farm since 1966, and its headland or Mull of Kintyre.The song was Wings' biggest hit...

" was released. It stayed at #1 in the UK for nine weeks (#34 in Canada), and was the highest-selling single in the UK until 1984, when Band Aid

Band Aid (band)

Band Aid was a charity supergroup featuring British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. The single...

's "Do They Know It's Christmas?

Do They Know It's Christmas?

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for relief of the 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The original version was produced by Midge Ure and released by Band Aid on 29 November 1984....

" beat its record. 1978 saw Wings score another #1 hit with "With a Little Luck

With a Little Luck

"With a Little Luck" is a single by the band Wings from their 1978 album London Town. The song was written by Paul McCartney in Scotland and recorded on board the boat Fair Carol in the Virgin Islands prior to the departure of lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Joe English from Wings...

", and they saw the Top Five one more time in 1979 with "Goodnight Tonight

Goodnight Tonight

"Goodnight Tonight" is Wings' disco-inflected single which included a spirited flamenco guitar break. It peaked at number five in both the United Kingdom and United States during 1979. The track did not appear on Wings' then-current LP Back to the Egg , however it was included on the 1987 McCartney...

". Wings toured again

Wings UK Tour 1979

On 23 November 1979, Paul McCartney's band Wings began a 19-date concert tour of the United Kingdom to promote their newest album, Back to the Egg....

 in 1979, and McCartney organised the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

Concerts for the People of Kampuchea is a double album from Wings, The Who, Queen, Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, The Clash, The Specials, and many more artists of the highlights from the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea held at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, England to raise money for the...

. McCartney's "Rockestra" theme won a Grammy award.

1970s

As The Beatles were breaking up in 1970, McCartney was working on his debut solo album, McCartney

McCartney (album)

McCartney is the debut solo album by Paul McCartney. Apart from Linda McCartney's vocal contributions, McCartney performed the entire album solo...

, which was released in April. Backing vocals

Backing vocalist

A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

 were provided by his wife, Linda

Linda McCartney

Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....

, whom he had married the previous year. McCartney had insisted from the beginning of their marriage that his wife should be involved in his musical projects, so that they did not have to be apart when he was on tour.

In May 1971 a second album, Ram

Ram (album)

Ram is an album by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, released in 1971, the only album credited to the pair. It was the second of the two albums McCartney released between leaving The Beatles and forming Wings...

, credited to Paul and Linda McCartney and selling several million copies, was released, spawning the #1 U.S. hit single "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is a song by Paul and Linda McCartney from the album Ram. Released in the United States as a single on 2 August 1971, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1971, making it the first of a string of post-Beatles, McCartney-penned singles to top the US...

". The album was recorded with the help of outside musicians, including drummer Denny Seiwell, who had to perform in a secret audition for Paul and Linda before being chosen. A jam session

Jam session

Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...

 — with Lennon and McCartney — was recorded in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, in 1974, and released on the bootleg

Bootleg recording

A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...

 A Toot and a Snore in '74

A Toot and a Snore in '74

A Toot and a Snore in '74 is a bootleg album of the only known recording session in which John Lennon and Paul McCartney played together after the break-up of The Beatles. Mentioned by Lennon in a 1975 interview, details were brought to light in May Pang's 1983 book, Loving John, and it gained...

. In 1977, McCartney supervised the release of Thrillington

Thrillington

Thrillington is a 1977 album by Paul McCartney, under the pseudonym of Percy "Thrills" Thrillington. The album is an instrumental cover version of Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971 album, Ram...

, an instrumental interpretation of Ram, under the name "Percy 'Thrills' Thrillington". At Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 1979, McCartney released a solo Christmas single, "Wonderful Christmastime

Wonderful Christmastime

"Wonderful Christmastime" is a 1979 Christmas song by Paul McCartney. It enjoys significant Christmas time popularity around the world. The notable synthesiser riff was played on a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5. The song was later added as a bonus track on the CD reissue of Wings' Back to the Egg...

", his first solo release since he began recording with Wings in 1971. At the end of the 1970s Paul McCartney had become the 5th biggest selling music act on the planet.

1980s

McCartney carried on recording after the death of John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 in 1980, but did not play any live concerts for some time, saying that he was nervous that he would be the next to be murdered. This led to a disagreement with Denny Laine

Denny Laine

Denny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder of Wings...

, who wanted to continue touring and subsequently left Wings, which McCartney disbanded in 1981. Also in 1981, six months after Lennon's death, McCartney sang backup on George Harrison

George Harrison

George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

's tribute to Lennon, "All Those Years Ago

All Those Years Ago

"All Those Years Ago" is a song written by George Harrison, released as a single from the album Somewhere in England. The song was a personal tribute to former bandmate John Lennon, who was murdered on 8 December 1980...

," along with Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr

Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

.

McCartney played every instrument on the 1980 release McCartney II

McCartney II

McCartney II is the third album by Paul McCartney, and the first since the formation of Wings in 1971. It was released in 1980, a year before the band's dissolution and while their future lay in limbo...

(as he had on McCartney

McCartney (album)

McCartney is the debut solo album by Paul McCartney. Apart from Linda McCartney's vocal contributions, McCartney performed the entire album solo...

before it), this time with an emphasis on synthesisers instead of guitars. The single "Coming Up

Coming Up (song)

"Coming Up" was the opening track from Paul McCartney's McCartney II album, written by McCartney and released in 1980. Like the rest of the album, the song had a minimalist synthesized feel to it. It featured lead vocals from McCartney distorted by using vari-speed, and he played all the...

" reached #2 in Britain, and a live version of the song recorded by Wings just prior to their breakup reached #1 in Canada and the US. "Waterfalls

Waterfalls (Paul McCartney song)

"Waterfalls" is a Paul McCartney ballad from his first solo album after Wings, McCartney II. The song has a stripped-down sound, with McCartney only playing a Fender Rhodes electric piano and a synthesizer and singing. It was released as a single with "Check My Machine" as its B-Side and reached...

" was another UK Top 10 hit. McCartney's next album, 1982's Tug of War, reunited him with Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr

Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

 and Beatles producer George Martin

George Martin

Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...

, and the album hit No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time as its lead single, a duet with Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

, "Ebony and Ivory

Ebony and Ivory

"Ebony and Ivory" is a 1982 number-one single by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 29 of that year. The song is featured on McCartney's album Tug of War. The song reached number one on both the UK and the U.S. charts...

", did likewise. Two further hit duets followed, both with Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

: "The Girl Is Mine

The Girl Is Mine

"The Girl Is Mine" is a song by Michael Jackson featuring Paul McCartney. It is the first single from Jackson's sixth solo album, Thriller. It is one of the three songs that Jackson and McCartney recorded together. McCartney is the only featured guest on the album. The track was written and...

", from Jackson's Thriller

Thriller (album)

Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...

album, and "Say Say Say

Say Say Say

"Say Say Say" is a pop song written and performed by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. The track was produced by George Martin for McCartney's fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace...

", a single from McCartney's 1983 album, Pipes of Peace

Pipes of Peace (album)

Pipes of Peace is the fifth studio album by Paul McCartney, released in 1983. As the follow-up to the popular Tug of War, Pipes of Peace was nearly as successful and the source of more big hits for McCartney although critics were much cooler on the album than they were on its...

. Paul also guest starred with Linda on The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, in the season seven episode "Lisa the Vegetarian

Lisa the Vegetarian

"Lisa the Vegetarian" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 15, 1995. In the episode, Lisa decides to stop eating meat after bonding with a lamb at a petting zoo...

". "Maybe I'm Amazed

Maybe I'm Amazed

"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by Paul McCartney that was first released on his McCartney album on 17 April 1970. The studio version from the album has never been released as a single. McCartney dedicated the song to his wife, Linda, who had helped him get through the break-up of The Beatles...

" is played during the credits.

McCartney wrote and starred in the 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street

Give My Regards to Broad Street

Give My Regards to Broad Street is the soundtrack album to the 1984 film of the same name. Unlike the film, the album was successful, achieving #1 in the UK chart and its lead single "No More Lonely Nights" was BAFTA and Golden Globe award nominated....

. The film and soundtrack featured the US and UK Top 10 hit "No More Lonely Nights

No More Lonely Nights

No More Lonely Nights is a song written by Paul McCartney, which was first released in September 1984. It can be heard on the soundtrack, Give My Regards to Broad Street. The single reached #6 in the US and #2 in the UK...

", and the album reached #1 in the UK, but the film did not do well commercially or critically. Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert

Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 awarded the film a single star and wrote, "You can safely skip the movie and proceed directly to the sound track". Later that year, McCartney released "We All Stand Together

We All Stand Together

"We All Stand Together" is a song by Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus. It was from the animated film Rupert and the Frog Song and reached number three in the UK Singles Chart in 1984...

", the title song from the animated film Rupert and the Frog Song

Rupert and the Frog Song

Rupert and the Frog Song is a 1984 animated film written and produced by Paul McCartney and directed by Geoff Dunbar and Raymond 'George' Taylor. The making of Rupert and the Frog Song began in 1981 and ended in 1983. The film was released theatrically as an accompaniment to McCartney's feature...

, which was the supporting feature to Broad Street in cinemas and which, when released on video cassette would become the year's top-seller. The following year, McCartney released "Spies Like Us

Spies Like Us (song)

"Spies Like Us" is the title song to the 1985 Warner Bros. motion picture of the same name, starring Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon. It was written and performed by Paul McCartney, and was a top-ten hit in the United States in early 1986, reaching #7 on the singles chart, making it...

," the title song to the Dan Aykroyd/Chevy Chase comedy which hit #7 on the Billboard chart (making it his last US Top 20 hit to date) and #24 in Canada. On 13 July 1985, McCartney played "Let It Be" at the Live Aid

Live Aid

Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...

 concert in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, but much of his performance was marred by technical difficulties. He was backed on this performance by Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof

Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...

, Pete Townshend

Pete Townshend

Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...

, David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, and Alison Moyet

Alison Moyet

Alison Moyet , is an English singer, songwriter and performer noted for her bluesy voice.Her UK album sales have reached a certified 2.3 million, with 800,000 singles sold, all in the UK, where all seven of her studio albums and three compilation albums have charted in the Top 40 UK Album Chart,...

.

In the second half of the decade McCartney would find new collaborators. Eric Stewart

Eric Stewart

Eric Stewart is an English musician, songwriter and record producer most known for his tenure with The Mindbenders in the 1960s, and 10cc from 1972 to 1995....

 had appeared on McCartney's Pipes of Peace album, and he co-wrote most of McCartney's 1986 album Press to Play

Press to Play

-Personnel:* Paul McCartney – bass, acoustic and electric guitars, lead vocals* Neil Jason – bass* Eric Stewart – acoustic and electric guitars* Pete Townshend – electric guitars* Carlos Alomar – acoustic and electric guitars* Eddie Rayner – keyboards...

. The album and its lead single, "Press

Press (song)

"Press" is a 1986 single by Paul McCartney also featured on the album Press to Play. "It's Not True" was featured as the B-side.Though hitting the Top 30 in both the U.S...

", became minor hits. McCartney returned the favour by co-writing two songs for Stewart's band, 10cc

10cc

10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians -- Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme -- who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name...

: "Don't Break the Promises" (...Meanwhile

...Meanwhile

...Meanwhile is the 10th studio album by British pop band 10cc. It was recorded at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, The Hit Factory, New York, River Sound Studios, New York, Bill Schner Studio, Los Angeles and Village Recorders, Los Angeles and released in 1992.The album was the band's...

, 1992), and "Yvonne's the One" (Mirror Mirror, 1995). In 1987, EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 released All the Best!

All the Best!

All the Best! is the second official compilation album of Paul McCartney music, after 1978's Wings Greatest and was released in 1987. The album contains tracks from the beginning of his solo career in 1970 up to the newly recorded "Once Upon a Long Ago." The track inclusion and running order...

which was the first compilation of McCartney's own songs.

In 1988, he released, initially in the Soviet Union only, Снова в СССР, a collection of McCartney cover-versions of his favourite vintage rock and roll classics which later had a general release in 1991. Around this time, McCartney also began a songwriting partnership with Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

 (Declan MacManus) from which songs would appear on singles and albums by both artists, notably "Veronica

Veronica (song)

"Veronica" is a single from Elvis Costello's 1989 album Spike, co-written by Costello with Paul McCartney. The song "Veronica" was co-produced by T-Bone Burnett and Kevin Killen, and features Paul McCartney on his iconic Höfner bass...

" on Costello's album Spike

Spike (Elvis Costello album)

Spike is the 12th studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released on and compact disc as Warner Brothers 25848. It was his first album for the label. It peaked at #5 on the UK album chart, and at #32 on the Billboard 200....

and "My Brave Face

My Brave Face

"My Brave Face" is a single from Paul McCartney's 1989 album, Flowers in the Dirt. Written by McCartney and Elvis Costello, "My Brave Face" is one of the most acclaimed songs from Flowers in the Dirt. It peaked at #18 in the United Kingdom a week after its debut, and #25 in the United States 7...

" from McCartney's Flowers in the Dirt

Flowers in the Dirt

-Additional tracks:-Special Package :Following tracks are included on bonus disc.#"Message" - 0:28#* A environmental message from Paul to the Japanese fans.#"The Long and Winding Road" - 3:51...

, (which reached #1 in the UK on release in 1989). Further McCartney/MacManus compositions for surfaced on Costello's 1991 album Mighty Like a Rose

Mighty Like a Rose

Mighty Like A Rose is the 13th studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1991 on compact disc as Warner Brothers 26575. The title is presumably a reference to the pop standard "Mighty Lak' a Rose", and although that song does not appear on the album, the...

and McCartney's 1993 album Off the Ground

Off the Ground

Off the Ground is the ninth studio album by Paul McCartney, released in 1993. As his first studio album of the 1990s, it is also the follow-up to the acclaimed Flowers in the Dirt .-Recording and structure:...

. A 1992 McCartney / Starr collaboration "Angel in Disguise" was intended for Ringo's Time Takes Time

Time Takes Time

Although the booklet's credits include the statement "Tom Petty appears courtesy of MCA Records," Petty is not listed as a player or vocalist on any of the booklet's track-by-track personnel listings.-Personnel:...

album, however was not included and remains unreleased to this day. During late 1989 and 1990, he staged The Paul McCartney World Tour, his first concert tour since Lennon's murder and his first of the US in thirteen years.

1990s

In the early 1990s (after another world tour), McCartney, Harrison and Starr worked together on Apple's

Apple Corps

Apple Corps Ltd. is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in January 1968 by the members of The Beatles to replace their earlier company and to form a conglomerate. Its name is a pun. Its chief division is Apple Records, which was launched in the same year...

 The Beatles Anthology

The Beatles Anthology

The Beatles Anthology is the name of a documentary series, a set of three double albums and a book focusing on the history of The Beatles. Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all participated in the making and approval of the works, which are sometimes referred to collectively as the...

documentary series. It included three double albums of alternative takes, live recordings, and previously unreleased Beatles songs, as well as a ten-hour video boxed set. Anthology 1

Anthology 1

Anthology 1 is a compilation album by The Beatles, released by Apple Records in November 1995. It was released as the first part of the Anthology trilogy of albums with Anthology 2 and Anthology 3, all of which tie-in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. It contains "Free as a Bird",...

was released in 1995, and featured "Free as a Bird

Free as a Bird

"Free as a Bird" is a song originally composed and recorded in 1977 as a home demo by John Lennon. In 1995 a studio version of the recording incorporating contributions from Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr was released as a single by The Beatles.The single was released as part of...

", which was the first Beatles reunion track, while Anthology 2

Anthology 2

Anthology 2 is a compilation album by The Beatles, released by Apple Records in March 1996. It is the second of the three-volume Anthology collection, all of which tie-in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. The opening track is "Real Love", the second of the two recordings that...

, released in 1996, included "Real Love" (1996), the second and final in the reunion series. Both reunion tracks were co produced by Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...

 frontman Jeff Lynne

Jeff Lynne

Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob...

, who had worked with Harrison in The Traveling Wilburys

Traveling Wilburys

The Traveling Wilburys were an English–American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, accompanied by drummer Jim Keltner...

. Both reunion tracks were completed by adding new music and vocal tracks to Lennon's demos

Demo (music)

A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 from the late 1970s.

In 1997, McCartney released Flaming Pie

Flaming Pie

Flaming Pie is an album by Paul McCartney, first released in 1997. His first studio album in over four years, it was mostly recorded following McCartney's involvement in the highly successful The Beatles Anthology project. In Flaming Pies liner notes McCartney said: " reminded me of The Beatles'...

. The album garnered the best reviews for a McCartney album since Tug of War. It debuted at #2 in the UK and the US, and was nominated in the category Album of the Year

Grammy Award for Album of the Year

The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...

 at the 1998 Grammy Awards. In 1999, McCartney released another album of rock 'n' roll songs, titled Run Devil Run

Run Devil Run

Run Devil Run is the eleventh solo studio album by Paul McCartney, released in 1999. It features covers of both familiar and obscure 1950s rock and roll songs, along with three new McCartney songs written in the same style...

.

2000s

In 2000, McCartney released A Garland for Linda

A Garland for Linda

A Garland for Linda is a tribute album for Linda McCartney, released in 2000 by the cancer-fighting organization the Garland Appeal. The album features classical music by ten contemporary composers including Paul McCartney, John Rutter and John Tavener, recorded at All Saints Church, Tooting,...

, a choral tribute album with compositions from eight other contemporary composers. The music was performed by "The Joyful Company of Singers" to raise funds for The Garland Appeal, a fund to aid cancer patients. Earlier in the year, McCartney worked on what would become his new album, Driving Rain

Driving Rain

Driving Rain is the twelfth studio album by Paul McCartney, recorded and released in 2001 it has now sold 2 million copies globally. It is his first studio album since publicly announcing his relationship with former model and anti-land mines activist Heather Mills, whom McCartney would marry in 2002...

, released on 12 November. Driving Rain featured many uplifting songs inspired by and written for his soon-to-be wife Heather. Clearly determined to follow the example of Run Devil Run's brisk recording pace, most of the album was recorded in two weeks, starting in February 2001. McCartney also composed and recorded the title track for the film Vanilla Sky

Vanilla Sky

Vanilla Sky is a 2001 American psychological thriller film directed, co-produced and co-written by Cameron Crowe. The film is an English-language remake of the 1997 Spanish movie Abre los ojos , the screenplay for which was written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil...

, released later that year. The track was nominated for—but did not win—an Oscar for Best Original Song

McCartney, who witnessed the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks from the JFK airport tarmac, took a lead role in organising The Concert for New York City

The Concert for New York City

The Concert for New York City was a benefit concert, featuring many famous musicians, that took place on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks...

 in response. The concert took place on 20 October 2001.

On 29 November 2002, the first anniversary of George Harrison's death, McCartney played Harrison’s "Something

Something

"Something" is a song by The Beatles, written by lead guitarist George Harrison in 1969. It was featured on the album Abbey Road, and was also the first song written by Harrison to appear on the A-side of a Beatles' single...

" on a ukulele

Ukulele

The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....

 at the Concert for George

Concert for George

The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The event was organized by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton and Jeff Lynne...

.

In 2002, McCartney went on another world tour that continued through the following two years. During the tour he contributed to an album titled Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy Of Sun Records—which included a version of the Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 hit "That's All Right (Mama)

That's All Right (Mama)

"That's All Right" is the name of the first single released by Elvis Presley, written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup. Elvis' version was recorded on 5 July 1954, and released on 19 July 1954 with "Blue Moon of Kentucky" as the B-side...

"—recorded with Presley band members, Scotty Moore

Scotty Moore

Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III is an American guitarist. He is best known for his backing of Elvis Presley in the first part of his career, between 1954 and the beginning of Elvis' Hollywood years...

 on lead guitar and drummer D.J. Fontana. McCartney performed during the pre-game ceremonies at the NFL's Super Bowl XXXVI

Super Bowl XXXVI

Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game played on February 3, 2002 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 2001 regular season. The American Football Conference champion New England Patriots won their first Super...

 in 2002, and starred in the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played on February 6, 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 2004 regular season...

 in 2005. In 2003, McCartney went to Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 to play a concert in Red Square

Red Square

Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...

. Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

 gave McCartney a tour of the Square, and McCartney performed a private version of "Let It Be

Let It Be (song)

"Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band...

".

In what would be only his second British music festival appearance (after Knebworth 1990), McCartney headlined the Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury Festival

The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...

 in June 2004. McCartney and festival organiser Michael Eavis

Michael Eavis

Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis, CBE , is an English dairy farmer and the founder of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place on his farm.-Personal life:...

 won the NME Award on behalf of the festival, which won 'Best Live Event' in the 2005 awards. McCartney performed at the main Live 8

Live 8 concert, London

The main Live 8 concert was held at Hyde Park, London, England on 2 July 2005, in front of over 200,000 people. The show's logistics were managed by famed promoter Harvey Goldsmith.The event is also referred to as "Live 8 London" or "Live 8 UK"....

 concert on 2 July 2005, playing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

 to open the Hyde Park

Hyde Park, London

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...

 event, although Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr

Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

 criticised McCartney for not asking him to play.

On 13 November 2005, McCartney played a live concert at the Arrowhead Pond

Arrowhead Pond

The Honda Center, previously known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim and colloquially called The Pond or The Ponda, is an indoor arena in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks and was home of the former National Lacrosse League's Anaheim Storm, which...

 in Anaheim, CA. Towards the end of the concert, a satellite link-up was made to the International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

 so McCartney and those at the concert could see NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 Astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian Cosmonaut Valery Tokarev

Valery Tokarev

Valeri Ivanovich Tokarev , Russian Air Force Colonel and test cosmonaut at the Yuri A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, was born October 29, 1952 in the town of Kap-Yar, Astrakhan Oblast and currently resides at Star City, Moscow Region. He has traveled to space twice and has performed two career...

 as they were awakening for the 44th day of their six month mission in space. McCartney proceeded to play the traditional wakeup song played on each space mission, a tradition that began during the moon missions. McCartney also performed "Good Day Sunshine

Good Day Sunshine

"Good Day Sunshine" is a song by The Beatles on the 1966 album Revolver. It was written mainly by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Leonard Bernstein praised the song for its construction in a 1967 CBS News documentary...

", and "English Tea". Afterwards he and the concert goers talked with McArthur and Tokarev via a projection screen. This was the first time a live concert had been linked to a U.S. spacecraft.

McCartney joined Jay-Z

Jay-Z

Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

 and Linkin Park

Linkin Park

Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...

 onstage at the 2006 Grammy Awards

Grammy Awards of 2006

The 48th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2006 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Irish rock band U2 were the big winners, winning five awards including Album of the Year. Mariah Carey, John Legend, and Kanye West each were nominated for eight awards and won three,...

 in a performance of "Numb/Encore

Numb/Encore

"Numb/Encore" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z and rock band Linkin Park from their album Collision Course, . It was released as a single on November 16, 2004, by Warner Bros. and Roc-A-Fella Records...

" & "Yesterday

Yesterday (song)

"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...

" to commemorate the recent passing of Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.Mrs...

. McCartney later noted, in between his solo set of "Fine Line" and "Helter Skelter", that it was the first time he had performed at the Grammys and quipped, "I finally passed the audition," which was a reference to the Lennon comment at the end of the Let It Be

Let It Be (film)

Let It Be is a 1970 documentary film about The Beatles rehearsing and recording songs for the album Let It Be in January 1969. The film features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public...

film: "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition."

On 21 March 2007, McCartney left EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 to become the first artist signed to Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...

's new record label, Los Angeles-based Hear Music

Hear Music

Hear Music, also known as StarCon is the brand name of Starbucks' retail music concept and record label. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999.-Concept:...

, to be distributed by Concord Music Group

Concord Music Group

Concord Music Group is a record company owned by Village Roadshow formed in 2004 by the merger of Concord Records and Fantasy Records. In 2005, the company acquired the classics and jazz label Telarc International. On December 18, 2006, Concord announced the re-launch of the soul label Stax;...

. He made an appearance via a video-feed from London at the company's annual meeting. "For me, the great thing is the commitment and the passion and the love of music, which as an artist is good to see. It's a new world now and people are thinking of new ways to reach the people, and that's always been my aim".
McCartney played "secret gigs" in London, New York, and Los Angeles to promote his album. Several live recordings from these shows have been released as B-sides to singles from Memory Almost Full

Memory Almost Full

Memory Almost Full is the 14th studio album by Paul McCartney, released in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2007 and in the United States a day later. The album was the first release on Starbucks' Hear Music label...

. In New York, the crowd included only a few hundred contest winners and celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...

, Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood

Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...

, Kate Moss

Kate Moss

Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...

, Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn

-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...

, and Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi

Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...

.

On 13 November 2007, The McCartney Years

The McCartney Years

The McCartney Years is a three-DVD set featuring music videos, live performances and other rare footage from Paul McCartney's solo career and Wings. The set spans the years 1970 to 2005...

, a 3-DVD set was released. It contains an exclusive commentary, behind the scenes footage, over 40 music videos and two hours of historic live performances. Discs 1 and 2 contain McCartney's music videos. Disc 3 contains live performances taken from Wings' Rockshow

Rockshow

Rockshow is a 1980 concert film by Wings, filmed during their 1976 North American tour. It features 30 songs from four concerts of the tour: New York, May 25 ; Seattle, Washington, June 10 ; Los Angeles, California, June 22 ; and Los Angeles, California, June 23 , although both the cover of the...

 in 1976, Unplugged in 1991, and Glastonbury in 2004. Other footage includes Live Aid, the Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played on February 6, 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 2004 regular season...

 halftime show, interviews with Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...

 and Michael Parkinson

Michael Parkinson

Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...

, and the 2005 documentary Creating Chaos at Abbey Road.

On 1 June 2008 McCartney celebrated Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

's year as the European capital of culture by playing a concert at Anfield Stadium. It featured special guest Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl

David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...

 of the Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...

. Grohl played guitar and sang backing vocals on "Band on the Run

Band on the Run (song)

"Band on the Run" is the title song from Paul McCartney & Wings' acclaimed Band on the Run album. The single sold one million copies in 1974 in the United States, where it reached number 1, and it went to number 3 in the United Kingdom...

" and played drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "I Saw Her Standing There

I Saw Her Standing There

"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and is the opening track on The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 22 March 1963....

". McCartney also played "A Day in the Life

A Day in the Life

"A Day in the Life" is a song by The Beatles, the final track on the group's 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, the song comprises distinct segments written independently by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with orchestral additions...

 " as a tribute to John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, marking the first time the song has been played live by a Beatle.

In April 2008 it was revealed that McCartney was invited by Ukrainian tycoon Victor Pinchuk to play a free concert in the Ukrainian

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 capital Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 on 14 June 2008. He played in the city's main square Maidan Nezalezhnosti

Maidan Nezalezhnosti

Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the central square of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the main city squares, it is located on the Khreschatyk Street...

 at a show dubbed the Independence Concert. Over 350,000 concert goers braved adverse weather conditions as Paul McCartney played the biggest concert in Ukraine’s history.
Furthermore, McCartney opened a personal exhibition of his artistic works at the PinchukArtCentre

PinchukArtCentre

PinchukArtCentre — the centre of contemporary art, located in Kiev. It was opened on September 16, 2006 by Victor Pinchuk Foundation.PinchukArtCentre is an international centre for contemporary art of the 21st century...

.

On 18 July 2008, McCartney made a surprise cameo appearance

Cameo appearance

A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 at the Billy Joel

Billy Joel

William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

 concert at Shea Stadium

Shea Stadium

William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...

 in Flushing, New York, which was appropriately titled "The Last Play at Shea", referring to the stadium's scheduled demolition

Demolition

Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....

 in early 2009. Rumours had been circulating that McCartney might appear at this concert, since The Beatles were the first band to perform at Shea; McCartney arrived and played "I Saw Her Standing There

I Saw Her Standing There

"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and is the opening track on The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 22 March 1963....

" and "Let It Be" with Joel on stage in front of thousands of screaming fans, closing the stadium as a music venue the way it opened.
McCartney played on the Plains of Abraham

Plains of Abraham

The Plains of Abraham is a historic area within The Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, that was originally grazing land, but became famous as the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759. Though written into the history books, housing and minor...

 on 20 July 2008 as part of the celebrations surrounding Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

's 400th anniversary. McCartney delighted the crowd of more than 250,000. He frequently addressed the crowd in French and dedicated the song "Birthday" to this city that he had not had the opportunity to visit before.




McCartney also played a special concert dubbed by him as "Friendship First" at Hayarkon Park

Yarkon Park

Yarkon Park , also known as Joshua Gardens, is a large public urban park in Tel Aviv, Israel, with about sixteen million visitors annually...

, in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, on 25 September 2008, attracting 50,000 fans. He wished the massive crowd Shana Tova in Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

.

Sometime in December 2008, McCartney was asked by a session musician which bands he enjoys in the current music scene. The response was surprising, when he replied his favourite band was the Canadian band, Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...

. "Their harmonies are right on. They could outsing us any day of the week. I don’t think John and myself ever had the sort of range they do" McCartney said of the band and also commented that he wouldn't mind doing an album with them.

In February 2009, McCartney received two nominations for the 51st annual Grammy awards, and performed The Beatles' classic "I Saw Her Standing There

I Saw Her Standing There

"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and is the opening track on The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 22 March 1963....

" with Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl

David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...

 on drums.

Later that month, Sirius XM launched a limited run channel devoted exclusively to the music of Paul McCartney. Entitled Fireman Radio

Fireman Radio

Fireman Radio was a limited-run channel on Sirius XM Radio, devoted to the music of Paul McCartney. The channel aired from February 14-March 13, 2009 on Sirius channel 33 and XM channel 27, temporarily pre-empting the soft-rock channel The Bridge....

, an homage to McCartney's alter ego, the program premiered on 14 February 2009 and ended 13 March 2009.

On 4 April 2009, McCartney reunited with Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr

Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

 at the David Lynch "Change Begins Within" Benefit Concert at Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...

. McCartney performed with his band earlier that evening playing, "Drive My Car

Drive My Car

"Drive My Car" is a song primarily written by Paul McCartney, with lyrical contributions from John Lennon, and first released by The Beatles on the British version of the 1965 album Rubber Soul; it also appeared in North America on the Yesterday and Today collection...

", "Jet

Jet (song)

"Jet" is a song by Paul McCartney & Wings from their album Band on the Run. The song peaked at number 7 in both the British and American charts on 30 March 1974. Along with "Helen Wheels" and "Junior's Farm", it is another McCartney song where his primary inspiration for composing the song arose in...

", "Let It Be

Let It Be (song)

"Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band...

", "Lady Madonna

Lady Madonna

"Lady Madonna" is a song by The Beatles, primarily written by Paul McCartney . In March 1968, it was released as a single, backed with "The Inner Light." The song was recorded on 3 and 6 February 1968 before the Beatles left for India...

", "Can't Buy Me Love

Can't Buy Me Love

"Can't Buy Me Love" is a song composed by Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles on the A-side of their sixth British single, "Can't Buy Me Love"/"You Can't Do That".-Interpretation:...

", "Band on the Run

Band on the Run (song)

"Band on the Run" is the title song from Paul McCartney & Wings' acclaimed Band on the Run album. The single sold one million copies in 1974 in the United States, where it reached number 1, and it went to number 3 in the United Kingdom...

", "Got to Get You into My Life

Got to Get You into My Life

"Got to Get You into My Life" is a song by The Beatles, first released in 1966 on the album Revolver. Written by Paul McCartney , it made prominent use of a brass section...

", "Blackbird

Blackbird (song)

"Blackbird" is a Beatles song from the double-disc album The Beatles . Blackbird was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney.-Origins:...

", and "Here Today" as a tribute to John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

. McCartney then called out "Billy Shears" and Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr

Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

 came out and together they performed "With a Little Help From My Friends

With a Little Help from My Friends

-Joe Cocker version:Joe Cocker's version was a radical re-arrangement of the original, in a slower, 6/8 meter, using different chords in the middle eight, and a lengthy instrumental introduction...

" and, with all performers, "I Saw Her Standing There

I Saw Her Standing There

"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and is the opening track on The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 22 March 1963....

" and "Cosmically Conscious".

On 17 April 2009, McCartney performed at the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California. The emotional show, which coincided with the 11-year anniversary of wife Linda's death, received rave reviews, as Paul showed his stamina by performing for more than 2½ hours. Highlight songs included "Something" accompanied by a ukulele and "Hey Jude," with which the 60,000-strong crowd sung along unanimously. The performance went 53 minutes past the midnight curfew, costing McCartney $1000 per minute.

On 1 June 2009, McCartney appeared onstage with Ringo Starr at the E3 gaming convention after Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison had appeared. They did not perform, but promoted and endorsed The Beatles: Rock Band

The Beatles: Rock Band

The Beatles: Rock Band is a 2009 music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the third major console release in the Rock Band music video game series, in which players can simulate the playing of rock music by using...

video game that was being showcased at the convention.

On July 11, 2009, McCartney played for his first time in Halifax, Nova Scotia. On 17, 18 and 21 July 2009, McCartney performed at the new Citi Field in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 as the first musical performance at the stadium. Along with The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, he performed the first show at the New York Mets

New York Mets

The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

 old stadium, Shea Stadium

Shea Stadium

William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...

 in 1965. McCartney also appeared as a surprise guest when Billy Joel

Billy Joel

William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

 performed at the last concert at Shea in July 2008.

Classical music

The 1990s saw McCartney venture into orchestral music. In 1991 the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commissioned a musical piece by McCartney to celebrate its sesquicentennial. McCartney collaborated with Carl Davis

Carl Davis

Carl Davis CBE is an American born conductor and composer who has made his home in the UK since 1961. In 1970 he married the English actress Jean Boht....

 to release Liverpool Oratorio. The Oratorio was premiered in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

's Anglican Cathedral, and had its North American premiere in Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 in New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 on 18 November 1991, with Davis conducting. McCartney's singers and musicians included the opera singers Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sally Burgess, Jerry Hadley

Jerry Hadley

Jerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa , Susannah , and Candide...

 and Willard White

Willard White

Sir Willard Wentworth White, OM, CBE is a Jamaican-born British bass-baritone.-Early life:He was born into a poor but supportive Jamaican family in Kingston. His father was a dockworker, his mother a housewife. White first began to learn music by listening to the radio and singing Nat King Cole...

, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society is a society based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, that organises concerts and other events mainly in the field of classical music. The society is the second oldest of its type in the United Kingdom and its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic...

 and the choir of Liverpool Cathedral

Liverpool Cathedral

Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England cathedral of the Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool but it is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin...

. EMI Classics

EMI Classics

EMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases....

 recorded the premiere of the oratorio and released it on a 2-CD album which topped the classical charts.

His next classical project to be released (in 1995) was A Leaf, a solo-piano piece played by Royal College of Music

Royal College of Music

The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...

 gold-medal winner Anya Alexeyev. The Prince of Wales later honoured McCartney as a Fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of The Royal College of Music

Royal College of Music

The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...

.

In March 2006, McCartney finished composing a 'modern classical' musical work named Ecce Cor Meum

Ecce Cor Meum

Ecce Cor Meum is the fourth classical album by Paul McCartney. The album was released on 25 September 2006 by EMI Classics...

(Behold My Heart). It was recorded with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is an English chamber orchestra, based in London.Sir Neville Marriner founded the ensemble as The Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields in London as a small, conductorless string group. The ensemble's name comes from Trafalgar Square's St Martin-in-the-Fields...

, and the boys of King's College Choir, Cambridge

Choir of King's College, Cambridge

The Choir of King's College, Cambridge is one of today's most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great British choral tradition. It was created by King Henry VI, who founded King's College, Cambridge in 1441, to provide daily singing in his Chapel, which remains the main task of the...

, Magdalen College School, Oxford

Magdalen College School, Oxford

Magdalen College School is an independent school for boys aged 7 to 18 and girls in the sixth form, located on The Plain in Oxford, England. It was founded as part of Magdalen College, Oxford by William Waynflete in 1480....

, and was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 3 November 2006. It was voted Classical Album of the Year in 2007 in the Classical Brit Awards. Other forays into classical music included Standing Stone

Paul McCartney's Standing Stone

Standing Stone is Paul McCartney's second full-length release of original classical music and was issued shortly after Flaming Pies release in 1997...

(1997) and Working Classical

Paul McCartney's Working Classical

Working Classical is Paul McCartney's third full-length release of original classical music and was issued one month after Run Devil Runs release in 1999....

(1999). In 1997, McCartney made his second venture into classical music with Standing Stone

Paul McCartney's Standing Stone

Standing Stone is Paul McCartney's second full-length release of original classical music and was issued shortly after Flaming Pies release in 1997...

, which was commissioned by EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 Records to mark their 100th anniversary in autumn.

McCartney played at the BBC Electric Proms

BBC Electric Proms

The BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms was an October music festival in London run by the BBC for five years, 2006-2010...

 on 25 October 2007, at The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...

 in Camden

Camden Town

-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...

, which is run by a music festival run by the British Broadcasting Corporation

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

.

Musical awards and recognition

In 1997, the album Flaming Pie

Flaming Pie

Flaming Pie is an album by Paul McCartney, first released in 1997. His first studio album in over four years, it was mostly recorded following McCartney's involvement in the highly successful The Beatles Anthology project. In Flaming Pies liner notes McCartney said: " reminded me of The Beatles'...

was nominated in the category Album of the Year

Grammy Award for Album of the Year

The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...

 at the 1998 Grammy Awards.

It was announced in the 1997 New Year Honours

New Year Honours

The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the New Year annually in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II...

 that McCartney was to be knighted

Knight Bachelor

The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...

 for services to music, and he received the accolade

Accolade

In the Middle Ages, the accolade was the central act in the rite-of-passage ceremonies conferring knighthood.-Ceremony:...

 from the Queen at Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...

 on 11 March 1997, becoming Sir Paul McCartney. He dedicated his knighthood to fellow Beatles Lennon, Harrison, and Starr, and to the people of Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

.

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

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

 as a performer.

In May 2000, McCartney was given a Fellowship by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. The chairman of the academy, Guy Fletcher, said McCartney had played a major role in changing the course of British popular music.

In 2007, McCartney was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Jenny Wren"—a song from his 2005 album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

Chaos and Creation in the Backyard is the thirteenth solo studio album by Paul McCartney released in 2005. A long time in the making, the set was produced by Radiohead and Beck collaborator Nigel Godrich at George Martin's suggestion....

, which itself had been nominated as Album of the Year

Grammy Award for Album of the Year

The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...

 in 2006.

On June 2, 2010 in the East Room

East Room

The East Room is the largest room in the White House, the home of the president of the United States. It is used for entertaining, press conferences, ceremonies, and occasionally for a large dinner...

 of the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

, Paul McCartney was given the Gershwin Prize

Gershwin Prize

The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is an award given to a composer or performer for their lifetime contributions to popular music...

 by U.S. President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

.