Quick Facts
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NAME: Sir James Paul McCartney
OCCUPATION: Animal Rights Activists, Songwriter, Singer
BIRTH DATE: June 18, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH: Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom.
NICKNAME: Macca
HEIGHT: 5' 11" (1.80 m)
ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini
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Plays left-handed guitar.
[Sunday 13 November 2005] Became the very first musician to perform live
music for an audience in space. This music milestone occurred during his
concert in Anaheim, California, when he sang "Good Day Sunshine" and
"English Tea" for NASA Astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian Cosmonaut
Valery Tokarev who were orbiting some 220 miles above earth in their Space
Shuttle Discovery.
Best Known For
British vocalist, songwriter, musician, and composer, Paul McCartney was a member of
the Beatles as well as one of the most popular solo performers of all time. He is in the
"Guinness Book of World Records" for most records sold, most #1s (shared), most
covered song, "Yesterday," largest paid audience for a solo concert (350,000+ people, in
1989, in Brazil).
Biography
Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool, England to Mary and James McCartney on
June 18, 1942. His mother was a maternity nurse and his father a cotton salesman and
jazz pianist with a local band. The young McCartney was raised in a traditional
working-class family. Tragically, when McCartney was only 14 years old, his mother
died of complications after a mastectomy.
Encouraged by his father to try out multiple musical instruments, Paul McCartney
began his lifelong love affair with music at an early age. Although he took formal music
lessons as a boy, the future star preferred to learn by ear, teaching himself the Spanish
guitar, trumpet and piano. In 1957, he met John Lennon at a church festival where both
were performing. Sensing an early affinity, McCartney joined Lennon's band The
Quarrymen. The two quickly became the group's songwriters, leading it through many
name changes and a few personnel changes as well. By 1960, they had settled on a new
moniker, The Beatles.
The impact that The Beatles would ultimately have on the 1960s in music, film and
popular culture is hard to overstate. "Beatlemania" soon gripped the world. During a
decade full of political and social strife, The Beatles expressed the broader hopes of
their contemporaries for peace, love, and rock n' roll. McCartney in particular would
write more hits for the band than any other member. Songs like "Yesterday," "Hey
Jude”, "Let It Be," "Yellow Submarine," and "Hello, Goodbye" would provide the
soundtrack for a generation. From 1962 to 1970, the group released 12 hit studio
albums, touring almost constantly.
The Beatles disbanded in 1970, breaking fans' hearts across the world, but McCartney
had no intention of dropping out of the public eye. He was the first of The Beatles to
release a solo album (McCartney, 1970). McCartney went on to form the band Wings,
which would remain popular throughout the 1970s, winning two Grammy Awards and
churning out multiple hit singles.
In 1969, McCartney married Linda Eastman, an American photographer, who would
prove to be his muse for the next 30 years. The family had four children, Heather
(Linda's daughter from a previous marriage), Mary, Stella and James.
The 1980s proved a trying time for McCartney; an arrest for marijuana possession in
Japan in 1980 was followed shortly by the devastating assassination of his longtime
partner and friend, John Lennon. In the wake of Lennon's death, McCartney stopped
touring until 1989. However, McCartney continued to play and record new music,
working in collaboration with artists like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. In the
1990s, he collaborated with former bandmates Harrison and Starr to work on The
Beatles Anthology documentary series.
McCartney is undoubtedly pop music royalty. For his contributions to global rock n' roll
culture, he has been knighted, honored as a Fellow at the Royal College of Music, and
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The former Beatle's interests extend far beyond music, and he has made successful
forays into film, writing, painting, meditation, and activism. Linda McCartney passed
away from cancer in 1998. In 2002, Paul married his second wife, Heather Mills, a
former model and anti-landmine activist. Their daughter Beatrice was born in 2003.
Amid much press scrutiny and intense animosity, the couple split in 2006.
Despite his many business ventures and other interests, the most prolific Beatle
continues touring, selling out massive arenas and showing no signs of stopping. When
asked about slowing down, the 69-year-old said, in typical fashion, "Why would I
retire? Sit at home and watch TV? No thanks. I'd rather be out playing."
Paul McCartney´s discography
Performing in Dublin, Ireland, on July 10, 2010
Releases
↙ Studio albums 22
↙ Live albums 8
↙ Compilation albums 3
↙ Singles 75
↙ Video albums 12
↙ Music videos 55
↙ Soundtracks 1
↙ Classical albums 5
↙ Other albums 7
Click on the ↙ to see a complete list of each category