By Wonderwall.com Editors
8:00am PDT, Jun 27, 2022
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Whether you call him the cute Beatle, Macca or Sir Paul, it's hard to believe Paul McCartney has been making music for 65 years. The British-born father of five is genuine rock 'n' roll royalty, having won 18 Grammys and written or co-written some of the biggest hits in history, from "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude." Join Wonderwall.com as we celebrate the music legend's latest major moment — on June 25, 2022, one week after his 80th birthday, he took the stage at Britain's Glastonbury Festival, becoming the oldest-ever solo headliner in the iconic music festival's history — with a look back at photos that span his extraordinary life and career.
Keep reading to take a visual walk down memory lane with the former Beatle…
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Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942, in Liverpool, England, to musician Jim McCartney and wife Mary, a nurse. He's seen here in the foreground at 6 with younger brother Michael, now a performer and photographer who goes by the name Mike McGear.
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Paul McCartney taught himself piano, guitar and songwriting as a teenager, with influences including his jazz musician father and rock 'n' rollers like Little Richard and Buddy Holly. In 1957, he began his career as a member of the Quarrymen, a group that evolved into The Beatles in 1960 (around the time this photo was taken of Paul on stage at the Cavern nightclub in Liverpool, England).
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Paul McCartney, sometimes called "the cute Beatle" in the press, played countless gigs with his fellow Beatles John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (seen here in matching outfits in November 1963).
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Beatlemania began in the U.K. in 1963 after the band released the hit "Love Me Do." It gripped the U.S. the following year — especially after the Fab Four first appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on Feb. 9, 1964 (the day after this photo of the band with host Ed Sullivan was taken at a rehearsal). Keep reading for a shot of the band during their milestone moment at New York City's Studio 50…
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A then-record 73 million viewers watched Paul McCartney and fellow Beatles George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr perform songs including "She Loves You" and "I Saw Her Standing There" on CBS's "The Ed Sullivan Show" in New York City on Feb. 9, 1964. And with that, the British Invasion had begun!
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From the global stage to the big screen! The Beatles starred in "A Hard Day's Night," a 1964 musical-comedy movie that depicts 36 hours in the lives of the band as they prepare for a TV performance. John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr — seen here arriving for the premiere in Liverpool, England, on July 12, 1964 — received rave reviews and the film was both a box office and critical success, snagging two Oscar nods.
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The Beatles' George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and John Lennon, seen here on the set of their 1964 film "A Hard Day's Night," would follow the successful movie musical up with another (this time shot in color, not black and white) just a year later.
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In the follow-up to their debut musical film "A Hard Day's Night," The Beatles' Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison paired song and slapstick in the 1965 movie "Help!"
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Paul McCartney began dating British actress Jane Asher in 1963 and soon moved in to her parents' London home. He penned the hit song "And I Love Her" while they were together, but it wasn't meant to be: The couple (pictured here in June 1965) split in 1968.
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Paul McCartney and fellow Beatles Ringo Starr, John Lennon and and George Harrison received their MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London on Oct. 26, 1965.
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Paul McCartney and his Beatles bandmates Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison released their eighth studio album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," in May 1967 with colorful images of the mustachioed foursome on the cover.
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Paul McCartney met photographer Linda Eastman on May 15, 1967, when she was on assignment taking pictures of rock musicians in London. They're seen here four days later at the home of Beatles manager Brian Epstein for a press event for the band's upcoming "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album. "I was quite shameless, really. I was with somebody else [that night] … and I saw Paul at the other side of the room," Linda later said of their meeting. "He looked so beautiful that I made up my mind I would have to pick him up."
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The Beatles performed their last live public concert on the rooftop of a building on Savile Row in London on Jan. 30, 1969. Paul McCartney and John Lennon can be seen at the microphones with guitarist George Harrison and John's wife Yoko Ono on the right.
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Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman married on March 12, 1969, at Marylebone Register Office in London, with her daughter Heather taking part in the civil ceremony. "We were crazy. We had a big argument the night before we got married, and it was nearly called off … [it's] miraculous that we made it. But we did," Paul once said of Linda. "Our favorite thing really is to just hang, to have fun. And Linda's very big on just following the moment."
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Paul McCartney and bandmates George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon crossed the street in northwest London outside a recording studio on Aug. 8, 1969 — and photographer Iain MacMillan's image of them became one of the most iconic album covers of all time. For years fans have debated why Paul is barefoot in the "Abbey Road" photo. "It was a very hot day and I happened to be wearing sandals," he told CNN in 2018. "So I just kicked them off because it was so hot… we went across barefoot. There was no special meaning."
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Paul McCartney struck a silly pose with wife Linda McCartney and their daughters, Mary McCartney and Heather McCartney, at a London airport in March 1971.
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After The Beatles broke up in 1970, Paul McCartney and wife Linda McCartney collaborated musically and formed the band Wings in 1971. He taught her the basics of the keyboard and though Linda initially was nervous — and faced harsh reviews from some fans and critics — Paul later said that "she conquered those nerves, got on with it and was really gutsy." Wings (pictured here in December 1971) had multiple personnel changes over the next decade, produced seven studio albums and had hits including "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die."
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On Sept. 13 1971, Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney welcomed their second daughter together, Stella McCartney, who joined big sisters Heather and Mary (seen here jetting to Jamaica for a family holiday in April 1973).
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Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney welcomed their first and only son, James McCartney, in London on Sept. 12, 1977.
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During the 1980s, Paul McCartney collaborated with many famous performers including Michael Jackson (seen here in the studio in an undated photo). The pair, who sang the duet "The Girl Is Mine" for MJ's 1982 "Thriller" album, re-teamed for Paul's 1983 hit "Say Say Say."
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On July 13, 1985, Paul McCartney took the stage at London's Wembley Stadium with iconic talents including Bono and Freddie Mercury for Live Aid, a global concert event that raised more than $125 million in famine relief for Africa.
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The Live Aid concert lineup, organized by Bob Geldof, featured more than 75 acts performing in London and Philadelphia including Elton John, Queen, Madonna, Santana, Run DMC, Sting, Bryan Adams, the Beach Boys, Mick Jagger, Duran Duran, U2, the Who, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and David Bowie (pictured hanging backstage with Paul McCartney).
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Fourteen years after John Lennon was fatally shot outside his New York City apartment building on Dec. 8, 1980, Paul McCartney joined the music legend's wife Yoko Ono and son Sean Lennon to celebrate the late Beatle's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney mingled with Princess Diana after his "Oratorio" performance in Lille, France, in November 1992. Two months later, in January 1993, Paul was shooting a video at Pinewood Studios near London when unexpected guests showed up: the princess and her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry (ages 10 and 8, respectively). The boys asked for "rock and roll" and Paul treated them to a secret impromptu performance of songs including "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Saw Her Standing There."
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To "sir," with love! Paul McCartney — now officially Sir Paul — showed off his medal after he received his knighthood at London's Buckingham Palace in March 1997.
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Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney were inseparable from their meeting in 1967 until her death on April 17, 1998, after a three-year battle with breast cancer. The singer — seen here with artists including Marianne Faithfull, Elvis Costello, Chrissy Hynde, Tom Jones and Sinead O'Connor — paid tribute to his late wife by staging the star-studded benefit concert "Here, There and Everywhere" at the Royal Albert Hall in London in April 1999.
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In May 1999, a year after losing wife Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney met Heather Mills at a charity event. The singer and the model-activist (seen here in October 2000 at a VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards afterparty in New York City) began dating a few months later. On July 23, 2001, he proposed with a diamond-and-sapphire ring he had purchased in Jaipur, India, while they were vacationing there.
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Paul McCartney married Heather Mills on June 11, 2002, at Castle Leslie in Glaslough, Ireland, in front of 300 guests. The bride (seen here getting a kiss from her groom the day before the wedding) entered the church to the strains of the song "Heather," which the smitten groom had penned just for her. The elaborate nuptials — including multiple flower-filled marquee tents, an Indian vegetarian banquet and free-flowing beer and bubbly — reportedly cost $3 million.
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Paul McCartney performed his first-ever concert in Russia — and was allowed to perform in Moscow's Red Square, a rare honor for a visiting musician — on May 24, 2003, as part of his "Back in the World 2003" tour.
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Paul McCartney escorted pregnant wife Heather Mills to the annual Adopt-A-Minefield Benefit Gala in Beverly Hills in September 2003. A month later, on Oct. 28, 2003, they welcomed daughter Beatrice Milly McCartney. But domestic bliss proved elusive for the pair. They split in 2006 and their bitter divorce was finalized in 2008.
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When Paul McCartney was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year at the annual gala ahead of the Grammys in February 2012, he shared a table with John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono.
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Paul McCartney moved on quickly from his nasty breakup with Heather Mills, finding love with New York socialite Nancy Shevell (seen here at the Grammys in Los Angeles in February 2009). The pair had known each other for decades because both owned homes in New York's tony Hamptons enclave but began dating in 2007.
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He loves her yeah, yeah, yeah! Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell tied the knot in a low-key civil ceremony on Oct. 9, 2011, at Marylebone Register Office — the same venue where he said "I do" to first wife Linda in 1969. "I feel married," the singer told reporters after the ceremony. "I feel absolutely wonderful." Among the roughly 30 guests who feted the couple: Ringo Starr and wife Barbara Bach; George Harrison's widow, Olivia; and journalist Barbara Walters, who is Nancy's second cousin.
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Unlikely trio! Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West released the surprise track "FourFiveSeconds" in January 2015 and performed at the Grammys (pictured) the following month. The song received critical acclaim and hit No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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Paul McCartney added author to his resumé with the publication of "Hey Grandude!," a picture book for children he wrote that was published in September 2019. The rocker has eight grandchildren.
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After Paul McCartney introduced the Foo Fighters at the band's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in October 2021, Dave Grohl and the group took to the stage with the rock legend to play The Beatles' "Get Back."
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Peter Jackson's acclaimed three-part documentary "The Beatles: Get Back" focused on the making of the band's penultimate studio album, "Let It Be." Paul McCartney (seen here with daughter Mary McCartney at the film's London premiere on Nov. 16, 2021) was a fan. "I'll tell you what is really fabulous about it, it shows the four of us having a ball," he told The Sunday Times of the film. "It was so reaffirming for me. That was one of the important things about The Beatles — we could make each other laugh."
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On the road again! Paul McCartney launched his North American "Got Back" tour in Spokane, Washington, on April 18, 2022. The set list includes more than 30 songs by The Beatles and Wings along with songs from Paul's prolific solo career.
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On June 25, 2022 — a week after his 80th birthday — Paul McCartney performed on the Pyramid stage at Britain's Glastonbury Festival, becoming the oldest-ever solo headliner in the iconic music festival's history. Not long after Sir Paul opened his set with "Can't Buy My Love," the crowd serenaded him with "Happy Birthday." The night was even more special as it took place exactly 55 years after The Beatles performed "All You Need is Love" from the famed Abbey Road Studios in London to an audience of about 400 million across 24 countries on June 25, 1967, during the BBC's "Our World" — the first live global satellite TV broadcast in history.
