Paul McCartney

The thought of McCartney needing a moniker to record “experimental” music amuses me: He's Paul McCartney; the albums under his own name always have cool-weird ...

This is gorgeous inanity in pan and scan; this is the kind of uproarious twaddle in which the singer climaxes with “Oklahoma was never like this!” (It wasn’t). The outro is McCartney at his most unhinged: The machines clatter, Linda and Stewart harmonize like addled Muppets, and McCartney interjects shit like “Ooh, that’s right!” over a beautiful, high synth line. Then he inserts an “ooh!” like the Paul of “She Loves You” — the bleakest “ooh” of his life, a guy leaning on a reflex to keep himself alive. As a result, Band On The Run hit #1 on the Billboard album chart for the first of three residencies. In “The Back Seat of My Car,” the admixture of lyrical banality and orchestral grandeur results in a uniquely hysterical product. Co-writer and uncredited co-producer Eric Stewart of 10cc: “It was ghastly, it was ghastly, and I really felt very sorry that I’d got myself involved…” Because the memory of programming syndrums haunts ’60s casualties like a bad trip, few decent reappraisals of a typically hit-and-miss McCartney album have appeared. No “ Band On The Run,” “ Silly Love Songs,” or “ Ebony And Ivory,” tunes that range from the sublime to the execrable and not part of my McCartney canon. A nimble acoustic-based hook and a straightforward lyric turn “Every Night” into one of the album’s most realized performances. It’s McCartney’s vocal that turns “No Other Baby” into one of the decade’s bleakest depictions of derangement. The odd stresses (“If ya’d taken an ar-rah/ And put it right through me!”) and the after-midnight glow of Linda and Denny Laine’s harmonies suggest an acquaintance with Michael McDonald’s recent Doobie Brothers work. However, it still sounds ungainly, with hits like “ Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” striving for the “Beatlesque” without purpose: an adjective in search of a noun. And McCartney, singing at the top of his range, sounds jazzed, hoping listeners “feel the sense of childlike wonder.” For decades the possibilities of the pop song has been this religious agnostic’s only faith. In the days of mixtapes and CD burning, Paul McCartney was one of those acts like the Fall and Wu-Tang Clan whose immense catalog concealed overlooked corners and underused trails the former Beatle himself had no interest in mentioning.

In celebration of the former Beatle's 80th birthday, we look back at the songs that showcase his melodic genius.

You might hate some of the songs that were chosen, and you might love some that were left off. For the purposes of this list, McCartney’s solo career includes things like Ram, which is credited to Paul and Linda McCartney, and the releases with his post-Beatles band Wings. Not included, however, is McCartney’s classical work or the Fireman, his experimental project with Youth. Obviously, these kinds of lists are subjective and intensely personal, and many of you will have issues with this one. McCartney’s solo work has undergone a well-deserved critical reevaluation since the ’90s, with once reviled albums like Ram and McCartney II now hailed as hidden gems and ahead-of-their time masterpieces.

Paul McCartney is turning 80 and in honor of his brilliant songwriting, we've ranked his 80 best songs. See if you agree with our list.

Forget about the astute narration (barbershops, bankers and roundabouts). Don’t even pay much attention to the heavenly pop melody. Yes. Indicative of McCartney’s desire to stay on the charts (i.e., commercial)? Sure. But it’s also unfairly maligned because Macca is completely in on the ridiculously catchy joke. The original is a gratifying valentine. At just over two minutes, the mostly instrumental platform would barely be a blip for most bands. Part of McCartney’s new wave/disco phase of the times that initially included sped-up vocals. Between the intricate guitar work from George Harrison and Lennon and a set of double-tracked vocals, a new sound in 1960s British pop was born. Songs that he wrote that became hits for others (such as Badfinger’s "Come and Get It" and Elvis Costello’s “Veronica”) weren’t included. As in, that is an insane amount of foresight, even for this guy. Noteworthy because it’s McCartney’s debut single following the Beatles’ breakup in 1970, and was therefore instantly dissected with microscopic precision. While his voice might have more warble to it, his ability to turn the bucolic into something infinitely listenable is still formidable. But – and this is why it squeaked onto the list – it can be considered a bold zigzag that, in retrospect, is at least interesting. But it’s hard to fault McCartney’s intentions – or the song’s easily digestible tunefulness.

The limited-edition collection, dubbed McCartney I II III, presents McCartney (1970), McCartney II (1980), and McCartney III (2020) — three albums on which he ...

McCartney also celebrated his birthday Thursday night during the New Jersey stop of his Got Back tour. Similarly, McCartney II signified the artist’s separation from his post-Beatles group Wings. He wrote, produced, and performed the entire album himself. Fifty years after the first McCartney, the artist decided to do it again with McCartney III, which came out in December 2020. The first McCartney album was the artist’s declaration of independence from the Beatles, an opportunity to show that he could do everything himself. It will be available on colored vinyl, black vinyl, and CD in slipcases that sport new design and typography (that highlights the word “art” within McCartney’s name) by pop artist Ed Ruscha on Aug. 5. A day before he turns 80, Paul McCartney has picked out his own present: a compendium of his self-titled albums, which span a half-century of his life.

Springsteen wished McCartney "80 more years of glory days" before performing his 1984 hit "Glory Days" with the former Beatle, whose 80th birthday is on ...

"I have a tattoo on my arm, which is cause this person is my hero," he said. So I'm deeply looking forward to getting out there in front of our fans." Onstage, McCartney referred to Springsteen's appearance as a "birthday present to myself."

Written, performed, and produced entirely by Paul McCartney, his three eponymous career-spanning solo albums (1970's McCartney, 1980's McCartney II, ...

In an unrivaled career, Paul has always been willing to take risks and have fun along the way – his musical projects have included classical albums, electronic albums, ballet scores, writing for video games, and left-field collaborations — along the way, breaking chart records, box office records, winning countless awards and remaining one of the world’s most influential and revered artists of all time. An intimate and loose record featuring “Find My Way” and the now live favorite “Women and Wives,” McCartney III features Paul’s melodic gift at its forefront throughout. Bookending 50 years of unparalleled work, each album demonstrates Paul McCartney’s restless creativity and adventurous artistic spirit.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Hard to think of a better way for Paul McCartney to celebrate his 80th birthday than by singing “Glory Days” onstage with Bruce ...

McCartney also paid tribute to George Harrison, who died in 2001, with a version of “Something” that began with Paul on a ukulele George gave him and built to a full band version. He couldn't have imagined that in 2022, one adult standing in line to get into MetLife being overheard asking a companion: “Where are Mom and Dad?” The fragility in his voice was evident while singing “Blackbird” on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, the final night of a brief U.S. tour. For most artists, the appearance of such local royalty would be a hard-to-top moment. “He has a youthful exuberance that is ageless,” said Bob Spitz, a Beatles biographer. Another 1960s icon, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, is scheduled to play at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City on his 80th birthday Monday.

Paul McCartney brought Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi on stage with him for his tour finale on Thursday, June 16 — read more.

The pair played two songs together before authorities famously turned off the power to the stage, claiming that the concert had gone on past the local curfew. “He’s a local boy,” McCartney quipped before introducing the New Jersey native. The Grammy winner, 79, surprised fans at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Thursday, June 16, when he brought out the “Badlands” singer, 72, for a grand finale.

Hard to think of a better way for Paul McCartney to celebrate his 80th birthday than by singing "Glory Days'' onstage with Bruce Springsteen.

He couldn’t have imagined that in 2022, one adult standing in line to get into MetLife being overheard asking a companion: “Where are Mom and Dad?” The fragility in his voice was evident while singing “Blackbird” on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, the final night of a brief U.S. tour. For most artists, the appearance of such local royalty would be a hard-to-top moment. He struggled for the high notes in “Here Today,” his love letter to John Lennon, who was robbed of a long life by an assassin’s bullet. “He has a youthful exuberance that is ageless,” said Bob Spitz, a Beatles biographer. Another 1960s icon, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, is scheduled to play at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City on his 80th birthday Monday.

Renowned musician and former Beatle Paul McCartney has always had a playful sense of style. To celebrate his birthday on Saturday, we take a look back at ...

By 1993, the singer had ditched the '70s lapels and moved with the times. Graphic knits and striking shirts were a mainstay for the former Beatle, pictured here with British rock group Wings at Abbey Road Studios in 1974. While performing his theme tune for the new Bond movie "Live and Let Die," McCartney paired a beaded necklace with a funky sweater vest. Anywhere was a runway for McCartney -- including the airport runway, where he was often photographed boarding and exiting jets sporting purple-lense aviator sunglasses or decorative Western shirts with a child perched on his hip. While the former Beatle may be known for his immeasurable contribution to music, Paul McCartney also has a well-documented penchant for fashion. Renowned musician and former Beatle Paul McCartney has always had a playful sense of style.

The former Beatle's long and rich musical career is marked by a refusal to rest on his artistic laurels.

For the past several years, he has made a point of performing Jimi Hendrix's epic guitar lick for "Foxy Lady" during the outro for "Let Me Roll It," a Wings-era track from "Band on the Run." As you raise a glass in honor of McCartney's 80th birthday, consider his motives for breaking off the same guitar pyrotechnics virtually every time he steps on stage. Take last Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, where McCartney closed out the Stateside leg of his "Got Back" tour. The same composer who reconceived the rock album in 1967 with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was still mining out new sounds in 2020 with "McCartney III." And still he persists in searching out uncharted creative vistas — and, whenever possible, showing off. He was barely 21 when British Beatlemania came into vogue in the autumn months of 1963. By all rights, he should be marking time as a pensioner, renting a cottage in the Isle of Wight or some such thing. A decade later, when the Who declared "I hope I die before I get old" in "My Generation," no self-respecting rocker set his sights on retirement, much less living into middle-age.

It's another day in Twickenham studios, where McCartney is single-handedly wrestling the Beatles into recording a new album. John Lennon, George Harrison and ...

In recent decades, he has worked with younger producers including Mark Ronson, Nigel Godrich and Kanye West and recorded three freewheeling albums with Youth under the alias The Fireman. He is also a generous live performer who knows fans want to hear three hours of the songs that have soundtracked their lives. He closed, as always, with The End, his simple valediction to the Beatles, Lennon’s favourite McCartney lyric, and the purest expression of his worldview: “And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.” Rock stars are accustomed to receiving love: McCartney is just as good at giving it back. Standards such as Let It Be and Yesterday are almost too famous to appreciate as entities that a young man sat down and wrote rather than plucking out of the ether. “It was going to be: John was the one.” What must be especially satisfying for McCartney is the long, ongoing reassessment of his post-Beatles work: the DIY farmhouse intimacy of his self-titled solo debut; the ambitious multi-part songwriting of Wings’ 1973 blockbuster Band on the Run, recorded in Lagos; the eccentric synthesizer experiments of 1980’s McCartney II. Tom Doyle’s biography Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s makes a strong case for McCartney as a risk-taking adventurer whose efforts to reinvent himself were far from cosy. “People say, I’m really scared to meet you,” he told Q in 2001. The Beatles became a global advertisement for youth and friendship – Paul and John wrote many of those early hits knee to knee, eyeball to eyeball – and their split was a generational trauma. “He used to be the one to get things moving,” Starr said after the band’s break-up in 1970. “I understood that now there was going to be revisionism,” he told Esquire in 2015. “It was this idea of ‘What do I do now?’” His daughter Stella, the fashion designer, reflected that “we spent a lot of our childhood with dad recovering from the turmoil and the break-up”. “The job was gone, and it was more than the job, obviously – it was the Beatles, the music, my musical life, my collaborator,” he told the New Yorker last year. In this particular scene he’s at the piano, guiding the band through a hymn-like new number while his fiancée Linda Eastman chats to Yoko Ono in the foreground.

Ex-Beatle turned 80 on Saturday, days after a brief US tour which saw him joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen.

During his career, Sir Paul has won 18 Grammys, been awarded an OBE and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. Thank you for raising awareness of the SaveCrueltyFreeCosmetics European Citizens’ Initiative.” The ex-Beatle turned 80 on Saturday, days after finishing a brief US tour.

As a worldwide treasure, everyone poured out love for McCartney's 80th trip around the sun. Happy 80 birthday to the legendary Paul McCartney! pic ...

Some of the more famous (or, really, the very best, in this writer’s opinion) include: Back in 2017, our Charles Curtis embarked on quite an ambitious endeavor and ranked all 188 (!) Beatles songs and ranked all of their albums the following year. With McCartney celebrating his 80th birthday Saturday, we thought it appropriate to quickly sum up the man, the myth, the heartthrob.

Paul McCartney est né à Liverpool le 18 juin 1942 dans une famille modeste.

Une fille, Beatrice, est née de leur union, avant que le couple ne divorce avec fracas en 2008. À 81 ans, Ringo Starr continue aussi les tournées. George Harrison est mort du cancer en 2001 et John Lennon a été tué en 1980 à New York par Mark David Chapman. Il s'est aussi essayé à la musique classique, à la peinture et à la sculpture. McCartney a alors créé le groupe Wings avec sa femme, la photographe Linda Eastman, au clavier. Pendant ce temps, McCartney 3, 2, 1, une série d'entretiens avec le producteur Rick Rubin, de même que le documentaire de Peter Jackson The Beatles: Get Back sortaient sur Disney+. Paul McCartney est né à Liverpool le 18 juin 1942 dans une famille modeste.

LA VOIX DES LECTEURS / Ce samedi 18 juin, Paul McCartney célèbre son 80e anniversaire de naissance. Pour l'amoureux des Beatles que je suis, ...

Et durant cette période, une autre de ses chansons marquantes fut sans contredit Band on the Run. Puis par la suite, il a entamé une carrière solo et s’est produit sur les plus grandes scènes de notre monde. Yesterday est la chanson la plus reprise de tous les temps avec plus de 3000 versions différentes. À l’époque de sa composition, McCartney n’avait que 23 ans. Cette chanson écrite par Paul McCartney m’a marqué et elle en a marqué plusieurs.

Among the many celebs wishing Sir Paul well on his big day are his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr, who sent his customary “peace and love.”.

— The Monkees (@TheMonkees)June 18, 2022 He said that he watched and enjoyed our TV show and that he liked our records. — Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel)June 18, 2022 — The Beatles (@BeatlesEarth)June 18, 2022 — George Harrison (@GeorgeHarrison)June 18, 2022 — John Lennon (@johnlennon)June 18, 2022

Il deviendra alors la tête d'affiche la plus âgée de l'histoire de ce mythique festival, qui attire des dizaines de milliers de personnes dans le sud-ouest de l ...

L'année suivante, il enregistrait une nouvelle version de cet album, pléiade d'artistes à l'appui, publiait un ouvrage retraçant sa carrière - «The Lyrics» -, un livre de recettes végétaliennes avec ses filles Mary et Stella, une histoire pour enfants... Ils auront une fille, Beatrice, avant de divorcer avec fracas en 2008. McCartney crée le groupe Wings avec sa femme, la photographe Linda Eastman, au clavier. Malgré les années et les drames qui ont ponctué sa vie, il conserve la silhouette svelte et le regard espiègle du «Macca» des années Beatles. Il s'est alors retiré en famille dans sa ferme du sud-est de l'Angleterre avec sa fille Mary et quatre de ses huit petits-enfants. Ce moment interviendra une dizaine de jours après l'achèvement de sa tournée baptisée «Got Back Tour» pendant laquelle il a rempli des stades aux États-Unis pendant un mois et demi.

A little birdy told me this was one of your your fav Beatles tunes. So Happy Birthday! Thank you for all the beautiful music. You have mine and the whole ...

The Beatles’ Twitter also marked the occasion with a minute-long tribute video: (This version is a bit rough because it’s such a pretty song I kept getting choked up and staring again!)” You have mine and the whole world’s undying love and respect.