- Paul McCartney refused to be on "Saturday Night Live" unless they paid tribute to the ones who died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. His request was granted and he went on as scheduled.
- Although all his songs for The Beatles are still credited as "Lennon - McCartney" he individually wrote almost half of all 200 songs for The Beatles, such as "Yesterday", "Let it Be", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Helter Skelter", "Eleanor Rigby", "Yellow Submarine", "Hey Jude" and many more. Only songs in earlier albums are really joint efforts with John Lennon. The co-credit was because of a handshake deal the two had made in their teens.
- His song "Yesterday" is one of the most popular songs of all time. Whilst he was looking for the right lyrics, he was temporarily using the line "Scrambled Eggs" until he came up with "Yesterday" in the final version of the song, as it is now known to the world. It became one of the most recorded songs of all time, with more than 3,000 known versions.
- He and John Lennon quibbled bitterly in the press after the break up of The Beatles. However, in 1977, they met in New York, and watched the episode of Saturday Night Live (1975) in which Lorne Michaels offered $3000 to see The Beatles get back together. He and Lennon considered turning up that night together as a joke, but were too tired to follow through.
- He met schoolmate George Harrison on the bus to the Institute from his suburban home in Speke; the two got acquainted riding the same bus every day, carrying their first guitars. After McCartney joined John Lennon's "Quarrymen," Harrison began turning up at their shows, and filled in when other members weren't available. Lennon objected to having a "kid" join the band, but McCartney persuaded him.
- In one of his first solo recordings following The Beatles' breakup in 1970, Paul played all the instruments and did all the vocal tracks on "Maybe I'm Amazed".
- His song "When I'm 64" was written for his father Jim's 64th birthday.
- He claims his nights in a Japanese prison in 1980 were the only time he had been separated from then-wife Linda McCartney.
- He plays 25 instruments: bass, piano, bass drums, guitar, cello, flugelhorn, tambourine, autoharp, shakers, spinet, maracas, moog synthesizer, tubular bells, melodica, organ, triangle, toy glockenspiel, recorders, drums, mandolin, saxophone, resonator guitar, sitar, ukelele and harmonica.
- The hit "Yesterday" does not feature any of the other members of The Beatles. It's just McCartney and a string section. As such, the record company considered releasing it as a McCartney solo song, but decided not to because of objections by Lennon.
- The only member of The Beatles to have been nominated for an Academy Award in his own right.
- According to McCartney, the name of the rock group Wings was inspired by daughter Stella McCartney's birth, which was premature and traumatic; Stella and her mother both almost died. As his daughter was being born by emergency cesarean section, Paul sat outside the operating room and prayed that she be born "on the wings of an angel."
- Along with writing "Hey Jude" for Julian Lennon the summer his parents broke up, Paul also jokingly proposed to Cynthia Lennon, in the wake of his own breakup with Jane Asher. Cynthia appreciated the laugh they both shared-- and the single red rose that Paul had brought.
- On Sunday 13 November 2005, he 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 William S. McArthur and Russian Cosmonaut Valery Tokarev who were orbiting some 220 miles above earth in their Space Shuttle Discovery.
- He is in the Guinness Book of World Records with 60 gold discs and sales of over 100 million singles.
- He was respected by The Beatles producer, George Martin, for his superior musicianship, musical inventiveness and multi-instrumental abilities. Martin said that McCartney was the one with enough attention span to sit at the piano, or in the studio as long as it takes to compose the best melody and harmony for their songs.
- Eleven years after the breakup of The Beatles, along with Ringo Starr, he played on only 1 George Harrison's song: "All Those Years Ago", about the death of his singing partner, John Lennon.
- Both he and John Lennon were watching an episode of Saturday Night Live (1975) together at Lennon's home in The Dakota, during which Lorne Michaels made a $3,000 cash offer for The Beatles to reunite. While they seriously considered going to the SNL studio a few blocks away, they decided it was too late. This was their last time together, before Lennon's 1980s assassination.
- His four children with Linda McCartney are: Heather McCartney (adopted from her previous marriage); photographer Mary McCartney; top fashion designer Stella McCartney; and musician/sculptor James McCartney (full birth name: James Paul Louis McCartney III). Paul was married to rock photographer Linda Eastman on March 12, 1969 at the Marylebone Register Office.
- He owns the copyrights to Buddy Holly's song catalogue and also numerous other compositions, including "Ramblin' Wreck From Georgia Tech".
- He plays piano for the song, "Let It Be". Performed "Let It Be" at Live Aid in 1985. During this performance, Bob Geldof, David Bowie, Alison Moyet and Pete Townshend (of The Who) all came on stage towards the end to sing backup vocals.
- He loved and was flattered by Ray Charles's cover of "Eleanor Rigby", but John Lennon did not like the version.
- He was made an honorary detective by the New York City Police Department for the benefit concert he gave for 9/11 victims, April 2002.
- He was one of the first musicians to perform at Shea Stadium, with The Beatles, on August 15, 1965, and one of the last to perform at Shea Stadium, performing the closing number at Billy Joel's concert on July 18, 2008.
- Contrary to popular belief, "Let It Be" was not a religious song as the lyrics "When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me..." might suggest. Paul wrote the song about his mother (Mary), not the Blessed Virgin.
- He has written several songs about his former bandmate John Lennon, including "Dear Boy", "Too Many People", "Dear Friend", "Let Me Roll It" and "Here Today.".
- The three surviving members of The Beatles appeared on three separate episodes of The Simpsons (1989). Starr appeared in a 1991 episode of "Brush with Greatness," Harrison appeared in a 1993 episode of "Homer's Barbershop Quartet," and McCartney appeared in a 1995 episode of "Lisa The Vegetarian".
- Although a huge fan of 'Weird Al' Yankovic's work, he turned down his request to parody Paul's James Bond song "Live and Let Die" as "Chicken Pot Pie" for vegetarian reasons.
- At 5' 11", he was the tallest member of The Beatles, being about half an inch taller than the late George Harrison.
- He was The Beatles' lead vocalist, bass player, pianist and songwriter. He was also an accomplished lead guitarist whose vibrato-laced solos can be heard on "Taxman," "Drive My Car," "Ticket to Ride," "Another Girl," and other Beatles' hits.
- He had a remarkable 62 top 100 singles from 1971-2005, under a variety of categories. 17 of them went to #1.
- He won five Grammys, including two with The Beatles. "Eleanor Rigby" was Best Pop/Rock and Roll or Contemporary song. "Michelle" won for Song Of The Year. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsy" won for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)/Best Background Arrangement, "Band On The Run" won for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal and "Rockestra Theme" won for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
- Paul played all the instruments and did all the vocal tracks on his 1970 "recording of "Maybe I'm Amazed". At the time, early 1970, The Beatles had not yet split up and the song was possibly a future "Beatle" recording. As it turned out, we have Paul with his own accompaniment, several other track and his first solo album "McCartney".
- He had wanted The Beatles to do a club tour shortly before they broke up. John Lennon disagreed, thinking that if they did tour again, it should have been in stadium-sized venues.
- He was fined $200 in 1973 for growing marijuana on his Scotland farm. He was arrested and jailed briefly in Japan in 1980 for carrying the same substance.
- He has homes in London, New York and Beverly Hills, an estate in Scotland, and a ranch in Arizona.
- While vacationing in Montego Bay (Jamaica), Paul met Dustin Hoffman who was on location shooting Papillon (1973) with Steve McQueen. While there, Dustin invited Paul to dinner where he challenged him to write a song "about anything." Since painter Pablo Picasso had just died, Dustin requested that Paul compose a song around Picasso's dying words ("Drink to me, drink to my health. You know I can't drink anymore"). Paul created a demo on the spot and the song - "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" - appeared on Wings' 1973 album "Band On the Run".
- He still plays the 1964 Epiphone acoustic guitar which he used to compose "Yesterday".
- His favorite singers were Little Richard and Elvis Presley.
- He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 (as a solo artist).
- He is half of the techno duo The Fireman.
- McCartney was the only barefooted Beatle crossing the street on the sleeve of the "Abbey Road" album (1969), a fact that merited a test segment on the popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1998) TV series.
- He owns the double bass that once belonged to Elvis Presley's bassist Bill Black. He plays the instrument on his solo sessions at his studio.
- He plays left-handed guitar.
- He owned a ranch in Tucson, Arizona; this was where first wife Linda McCartney died.
- He is very good friends with: Diana Ross, Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Tom Petty, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Steven Tyler, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, Stevie Wonder and Steve Miller.
- He was the only member of The Beatles to graduate from Britain's equivalent of high-school; he majored in Art.
- He holds a record with 29 #1 singles on the American charts with The Beatles, Paul McCartney & Wings, and as a solo artist (including one duet with Stevie Wonder).
- His father Jim (full name: James Paul Louis McCartney Senior) was a jazz musician himself; he performed under the name "Jim Mac". Paul has fond memories of relaxing on his bedroom floor while listening to his father play piano.
- He is a fan of Electric Light Orchestra, a band which was fronted by Jeff Lynne and was often compared musically to The Beatles.
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