LONDON (AFP)
This makes him Britain's richest performer -- but he insists he
has never forgotten his roots. "Deep inside I'm still the boy
from Liverpool," he has said.
Born to working-class parents in the port city in northwest
England, McCartney met John Lennon at the age of 15 and the pair
formed the Quarrymen, the skiffle band that eventually
metamorphosed into the Beatles.
McCartney, Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr would become
synonymous with mobs of screaming fans, mop-top haircuts, and an
image of four men strolling over London's Abbey Road at a zebra
crossing.
Simply put, they were one of the most powerful cultural
influences of their era. They are also the best-selling band in
history, with their record label EMI estimating all-time sales of
more than a billion discs and tapes.
Relentlessly imaginative, the band would develop the catchy tunes
that sparked "Beatlemania" in 1964 into an evolving sound
incorporating every influence from psychedelia to country and
western.
Lennon and McCartney formed one of the most celebrated
songwriting partnerships of the 20th century, but their creative
differences ultimately helped bring about the Beatles' break-up
in 1970.
McCartney formed Wings with his first wife Linda in 1971, and
used his ingenious ear for melody -- which had earlier given life
to classics such as "Hey Jude" and "Blackbird" -- to rack up a
decade of hits with the new group.
Linda, a renowned photographer and animal rights activist, died
of breast cancer in 1998. After 29 years of marriage, McCartney
described the loss as "total heartbreak".
But he was back late the next year with a new album, of mainly
cover versions, and has continued the Beatles' experimental
tradition -- a techno record and two classical works are among
more than a dozen solo studio albums.
He has also famously duetted with the likes of Michael Jackson
and Stevie Wonder.
Away from music, the singer has dabbled in painting, directed the
film "Give My Regards To Broad Street", and campaigned on causes
ranging from animal rights to peace between the Israelis and
Palestinians.
He has a son and four daughters -- including high-profile fashion
designer Stella, and Beatrice, born to Mills in 2003.
Of the four Beatles, two have since died: Lennon when he was shot
dead in New York in 1980 and Harrison from cancer in 2001.
McCartney is often mistakenly described as "the last remaining
Beatle" -- something that the oft-overlooked drummer Ringo Starr,
who is also still recording, bears with good-natured amusement.
"We are good friends," Starr has said. "We're the only two who've
experienced all this who are still here."
