Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney was born on 18 June 1942 at Walton Hospital in Liverpool. His family moved to council housing in Speke in 1946, and he won a place at the Liverpool Institute, where he met George Harrison in 1954^[1]. His mother, Mary, died of an embolism in October 1956, when he was 14^[1].

He met John Lennon in 1957 and joined the skiffle group the Quarrymen, which became the Beatles. He became the band's bassist in 1961 and co-wrote many of its hits with Lennon^[1]. He announced his departure in April 1970 and formed Wings in 1971 with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine^[1]. Solo landmarks include McCartney (1970) and McCartney II (1980)^[1], and he has toured as a solo artist since 1989^[1]. He was appointed MBE in 1965 and knighted in 1997^[1].

His twentieth solo studio album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane (2026), revisits his Speke childhood and was produced with Andrew Watt^[2].