He’s so much more than “the cute Beatle.”
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Since launching his songwriting partnership with John Lennon during the late-1950s, Paul McCartney has become one of the most acclaimed musicians in history. As a member of The Beatles and Wings, he dominated the Billboard charts throughout the 1960s and ’70s. That success spilled over into the 1980s, thanks to McCartney’s solo albums and collaborations with artists like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. Now considered an elder statesman of rock ‘n’ roll, he continues to evolve and modernize his sound, even duetting with contemporary names like Kanye West, Dominic Fike, Rihanna, and Dave Grohl.
Even a musician as popular as Paul McCartney can still have secrets, though. We’ve rounded up five little-known facts about the man, from his meatless eating habits to his knighthood.
5. McCartney wrote “When I’m Sixty-Four” at 14 years old
Rock ‘n’ roll was still in its infancy when McCartney wrote one of his first songs, “When I’m Sixty-Four,” at his childhood home in April 1956. He penned the song on his family’s upright piano, taking inspiration from vaudeville and cabaret music. His father, Jim McCartney, was 54 years old at the time. A decade later, as The Beatles began recording songs for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Jim turned 64. Perhaps that’s why McCartney dusted off the song for the new album. John Lennon chimed in with some lyrical revisions, and The Beatles tracked the final version of “When I’m Sixty-Four” in December 1966.
4. The U.S. government refused to issue him an American visa for years due to his drug use
Bob Dylan infamously introduced the Beatles to marijuana in August 1964. McCartney and his bandmates were staying at a hotel in Manhattan, having just played a show at Forest Hills Stadium in nearby Queens. Hoping to relax a little, they agreed to smoke the joints Dylan had rolled for them.
“We actually all got stoned and we were giggling,” McCartney told author Deborah Geller in The Brian Epstein Story. “It was giggling time and we were uncontrollable. And Brian was looking at himself, saying, ‘Jew! Jew!’ He saw the funny side of it. It was as if he was finally sort of talking about the fact. ‘Oh, I’m Jewish. I forgot.'”
McCartney became an outspoken marijuana advocate, writing “Got to Get You into My Life” about the drug and eventually getting busted in Sweden, America, Scotland, Barbados, and Japan for either carrying or cultivating cannabis. Those convictions prevented him from landing an American visa until December 1973.
3. He owns the publishing rights to multiple Broadway musicals, including Guys and Dolls and Annie
McCartney launched his own publishing company, MPL Communications, in 1969. Initially formed to handle McCartney’s work outside of The Beatles, MPL acquired the distribution rights for artists like Buddy Holly and Frank Sinatra and quickly grew into one of the world’s largest publishing groups.
[RELATED: 10 Guitars You Didn’t Know Paul McCartney Used]
Somewhere along the way, MPL began funding the development of a new musical that held its earliest performances in New England before making it to Broadway. That show was Annie. By the early mid-1980s, MPL had acquired the copyrights to more musicals, including Grease, Guys and Dolls, and A Chorus Line. Although he’s more commonly associated with The Beatles than Broadway, McCartney has a significant investment in the theater world.
2. He’s been an outspoken vegetarian since the 1970s
In 1995, McCartney made a surprise appearance on The Simpsons. The episode was titled “Lisa the Vegetarian,” and it followed the Simpsons’ middle child as she attempted to eliminate meat products from her diet. In addition to being the show’s first episode written by David X. Cohen, who would go on to develop Futurama with Simpsons creator Matt Groening, “Lisa the Vegetarian” also introduced many viewers to McCartney’s own vegetarianism.
The former Beatle agreed to lend his voice to the episode as long as Lisa remained a vegetarian for the rest of The Simpsons‘ lifespan, and the creators agreed. McCartney, too, has remained a vegetarian since he first gave up meat in 1975. He remains one of the world’s most prominent plant-eaters and even helped his first wife, Linda, launch her own vegetarian food company, Linda McCartney Foods, in 1991.
1. He’s an official knight
Not all knights wear chainmail. Queen Elizabeth II knighted Paul McCartney on March 11, 1997, recognizing the songwriter for his longstanding contributions to modern music. It was McCartney’s second visit to Buckingham Palace in three decades.
Back in 1965, the Fab Four visited the royal residence to accept a prestigious MBC (Member of the British Empire) medal. That initial trip to Buckingham Palace generated a good deal of controversy in mid-’60s England, with John Lennon claiming that the bandmates fired up a joint in the bathroom to calm their anxiety.
Although The Beatles tried their best to debunk that claim during the following years, the rumor persisted. Even CNN mentioned it in the coverage of McCartney’s knighting ceremony. “Paul McCartney, the Beatle who joked 30 years ago about smoking marijuana in the Buckingham Palace toilets, went back to see Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday to collect a knighthood for helping to revolutionize pop music,” the outlet wrote.
(Photo by Sue McKay/WireImage)
