Paul McCartney went on to have a successful solo career but at the time he admits it was a risk he didn't want to take. Photo / Getty Images
Paul McCartney went on to have a successful solo career but at the time he admits it was a risk he didn't want to take. Photo / Getty Images
Sir Paul McCartney has opened up about life after The Beatles – something he referred to as an “impossible act to follow”.
McCartney was one of four members of the legendary band which was also made up of the late John Lennon and George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Since disbanding in 1970, the star embarked on a successful solo career but admits at the beginning it felt like “earning my fame again.”
People Magazine has reported the singer took to his website, Coming Up, where revealed the biggest risk he’s ever taken in his decades-long career.
Answering a question from a dedicated fan from Twitter, the star said the biggest risk came after the iconic band came to an end, “The main question I had was whether to keep going after The Beatles because it was a hard act — some might say, an impossible act — to follow.”
Left to right: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Photo / Getty Images
Noting that he “didn’t know what to do” with himself after the separation, he knew trying something new was “really risky” especially due to the talent the Beatles had as a band of four.
“The ingredients in the Beatles were so unique. You had John right there, who could have made any group brilliant. Then you had George’s talent, and Ringo’s, and then me.”
McCartney – who revealed last year that Lennon instigated the breakup of The Beatles – said once he began his solo career he felt like he was starting all over again.
Referring to his second band, Wings, which was formed in 1971 and featured his then-wife, Linda McCartney as well as Denny Laine and Denny Seiwell, McCartney said they “decided to go right back to square one”.
Performing spontaneous gigs at universities instead of big shows, he said, “I’d doubled back to almost being nothing - just some guy in the band - and now I was earning my fame again. By the time the mid-70s came around when we were doing a big American tour, that was the vindication of it. We were so tight and had come up together, as it were. The risk paid off.”
Paul McCartney and John Lennon returning to Heathrow Airport from holiday in Greece. Photo / Getty Images
He also said he isn’t someone who is known for taking risks but after The Beatles, he felt like he was “forced” to.
“After The Beatles, this was my situation: ‘Do I keep going with music, or not?’ Well, I want to keep going. So, ‘How am I going to do it? Am I going to have a band, or am I just going to busk outside train stations? How’s it going to work?’”
It comes after the star revealed in an interview with BBC Radio 4′s series The Cultural Life last year that Lennon was the one who first left The Beatles.
“I am not the person who instigated the split. Oh no, no, no. John walked into a room one day and said, ‘I am leaving the Beatles.’ Is that instigating the split, or not?” he said.
The Beatles made the crossing famous when they used it for their Abbey Road album cover in 1969.
Continuing to discuss the disbandment – that occurred after The Beatles had been together for eight years, he said when Lennon first made the announcement he wasn’t on board.
“This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue,” McCartney said.
Despite believing the band could have continued on for much longer, McCartney said his late pal who was killed at age 40 in 1980, wouldn’t have stuck around.
“The point of it really was that John was making a new life with Yoko. John had always wanted to sort of break loose from society because, you know, he was brought up by his Aunt Mimi, who was quite repressive, so he was always looking to break loose.”
