On the morning of December 9, 1980, Paul McCartney received the devastating news of the death of John Lennon hours earlier at New York City’s Roosevelt Hospital. The ex-Beatle had been shot and killed just outside of his apartment in The Dakota just before 11 pm the previous evening. And while the global impact of Lennon’s death was immense, it paled in comparison to the painful shockwaves it sent through his closest associates, relatives, and friends.
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Because many of those associates, relatives, and friends were just as famous as Lennon, the press flocked to the musician’s survivors to hear comments on how they were processing the violent tragedy. Years later, McCartney reflected on how the media twisted his shell-shocked reaction in the days and weeks that followed.
Paul McCartney Had An Awkward Interview With Reporter
The Beatles’ sheer gravitas and celebrity make it easier to forget that they were normal people, albeit famous ones, too. To receive a call about the death of your best friend, particularly one with whom you were not on good terms at the time, would be life-shattering for anyone. For a musical icon like Paul McCartney, it certainly was life-shattering. It was also glaringly, uncomfortably public.
Speaking about the experience years later in a television interview, McCartney said, “I was probably more shattered than most people when John died. And I had plenty of personal grief. But I’m not very good at public grief. So, someone thrust a microphone into my face on the day it happened and said, ‘What’s your comment?’”
The interview switches to footage of McCartney speaking to a reporter on the street that fateful December day, and the exchange is noticeably tense. McCartney answered the reporter’s questions with short, curt answers. When the reporter probed further, asking the musician who called him to break the news, McCartney tersely replied, “A friend of mine.”
Eventually, McCartney switched to one- and two-word responses. The reporter asked, “Have you gotten into the death with any of the other Beatles?” “No,” McCartney replied. “Do you plan to?” The interviewer asked. “Probably, yeah,” the musician answered.
The Press Latched On To Four-Word Phrase About Death Of John Lennon
The Paul McCartney we see in the laconic interview following John Lennon’s death is a Paul we had seen before. Impatiently chewing his gum, scratching his face, looking around at everyone but the reporter: it was an attitude McCartney adopted when the press was pushing him on a topic he would rather not discuss. Sometimes, it was about drug charges or other controversies. This time, it was far more emotional. As the awkward exchange started to dissipate, McCartney bluntly said, “A drag, isn’t it?”
After he made the sardonic remark, McCartney abruptly said, “Okay. Cheers,” and walked away. Within the context of a man grieving the sudden loss of his childhood friend, the moment suggested that McCartney was at his emotional limit talking about Lennon. But the press quickly latched onto that four-word phrase, implying that McCartney was glib in his reaction to the death of John Lennon. In reality, McCartney said, “I couldn’t say anything else but that.”
“I just couldn’t,” he added. “Nor could George, nor could Ringo. Nobody came out with any big comments because he was too dear to us. It’s just too much a shock, yeah. But then, of course, that got reprinted. ‘McCartney, when asked what he thought of Lennon’s death, said, [adopting carefree tone], it’s a drag.’ And it comes out like that, you know. So, you’ve just got to be so careful about all that stuff.”
Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
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