Sir Paul McCartney took the stage at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Friday, November 8, to discuss his new quasi-memoir, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present—touching on everything from his relationship with John Lennon, his thoughts on a new Beatles museum in Liverpool, his distaste for passport photos and more, the night was another gem of new reflections from the now-79-year-old former-Beatle.
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“In those days you were allowed to look groovy in passport photos,” the “Let It Be” writer said as he unveiled a never-before-seen photo of himself from the late ‘50s. “But now you’ve got to look into the camera and not smile—because it’s a totalitarian state!”
At another point in the evening, McCartney humorously reflected on the health of the only other living Beatle, Sir Ringo Starr, with a comment that would’ve lit the Paul Is Dead community ablaze with speculation back in its psychedelic heyday.
“John and I went to grammar schools—Ringo, unfortunately, didn’t, but only because he was seriously ill when he was a kid,” McCartney said. “His mother was told he wouldn’t live—but Ringo will outlive us all!”
Recently, Starr—himself now 81—told Jimmy Kimmel that he and McCartney FaceTime regularly, and the two recently caught up over dinner with their wives in London.
McCartney’s new book, The Lyrics, tells the story of his life through the lens of the hundreds of songs he’s written in his nearly seven-decade-long career. The 960-page book hit shelves last week.
Read more coverage about Sir Paul McCartney HERE.
Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage
