Push Admin

When I get older: Paul McCartney going strong at 80

Article (news)

Charles Onians, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Beatles" former="" bass="" players="" Paul="" McCartney="" performs="" in="" March="" EPA-EFE="" ALBERTO="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/06/17/paul-mccartney.jpg"/><figcaption>The Beatles&#x27; former bass players Paul McCartney (C) performs in Santiago, Chile, 20 March 2019. <em>EPA-EFE/ALBERTO VALDES</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>LONDON, United Kingdom - Paul McCartney turns 80 on Saturday and a week later becomes the oldest headliner to play at the Glastonbury Festival. There&#x27;s even been talk of the ex-Beatle being made a lord before the year is out.</p><p>Not bad for a kid from a working-class family in Liverpool after almost 60 years topping the charts.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/12/20/21/bbc-doc-reveals-new-details-in-beatles-vs-imelda-story">These close encounters reveal another side to The Beatles’ ‘disastrous’ Manila visit in ‘66</a></li></ul><p>Between his years with the Fab Four, his work with Wings and his solo career, McCartney has written or co-written more than 50 top 10 singles.</p><p>During lockdown in 2020, &quot;Macca&quot;, as he is affectionately known, recorded &quot;McCartney III&quot; on his own and it became his first UK solo number one album since 1989. </p><p>McCartney and The Beatles returned to the spotlight last year thanks to director Peter Jackson&#x27;s eight-hour documentary &quot;Get Back&quot; about the making of their 1970 album &quot;Let It Be&quot;.</p><p>With a string of 80th birthday events planned in Liverpool, British media have reported that McCartney could be made a peer of the realm -- 25 years after he was first knighted.</p><div><strong>&#x27;Grandude&#x27;</strong></div><p>His knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II was upgraded five years ago to admit Sir Paul to the even rarer Order of the Companions of Honour, which recognises outstanding achievement throughout the Commonwealth.</p><p>A source told The Sun newspaper in March that &quot;the idea of offering him the chance to sit as a cross-bencher in the House of Lords has been mooted.</p><p>&quot;He has given incredible service to British culture, so it could be a very fitting tribute and mark of all that he has done for his country.&quot;</p><p>McCartney married his third wife, US heiress Nancy Shevell, 62, in 2011, and has eight grandchildren, who he says call him &quot;Grandude&quot;. </p><p>The Sunday Times Rich List estimates that the couple are together worth £861 million ($1.03 billion, 992 million euros).</p><p>That marriage came after his bitter divorce from model-turned-campaigner Heather Mills in 2008, who walked away from six years of wedlock with a settlement worth £24.3 million.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A mural of the Beatles is painted onto a wall in the Baltic Triangle area Liverpool, Britain, Oct. 14 2020. Peter Powell, EPA-EFE/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/04/14/beatles.jpg"/><figcaption>A mural of the Beatles is painted onto a wall in the Baltic Triangle area Liverpool, Britain, Oct. 14 2020. <em>Peter Powell, EPA-EFE/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Born in the port city of Liverpool in northwest England, McCartney met John Lennon at the age of 15 and the pair formed the Quarrymen, the skiffle band that eventually metamorphosed into the Beatles.</p><p>McCartney, Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr would become synonymous with mobs of screaming fans, mop-top haircuts, and an image of four men strolling over London&#x27;s Abbey Road at a zebra crossing.</p><p>Simply put, they were one of the most powerful cultural influences of their era. </p><p>They are also the best-selling band in history, with their record label EMI estimating all-time sales of more than a billion discs and tapes.</p><p>Relentlessly imaginative, the band would develop the catchy tunes that sparked &quot;Beatlemania&quot; in 1964 into an evolving sound incorporating every influence from psychedelia to country and western.</p><div><strong>&#x27;Total heartbreak&#x27;</strong></div><p>Lennon and McCartney formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century, but their creative differences ultimately helped bring about the Beatles&#x27; break-up in 1970.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/10/11/21/paul-mccartney-blames-john-lennon-for-beatles-breakup">Paul McCartney blames John Lennon for breakup of the Beatles</a></li></ul><p>McCartney formed Wings with his first wife Linda in 1971, and used his ingenious ear for melody -- which had earlier given life to classics such as &quot;Hey Jude&quot; and &quot;Blackbird&quot; -- to rack up a decade of hits with the new group.</p><p>Linda, a renowned photographer and animal rights activist, died of breast cancer in 1998. After 29 years of marriage, McCartney described the loss as &quot;total heartbreak&quot;.</p><p>But he was back late the next year with a new album, of mainly cover versions, and has continued the Beatles&#x27; experimental tradition -- a techno record and two classical works are among more than a dozen solo studio albums.</p><p>He has also famously duetted with the likes of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, and in 2012 fronted a brief Nirvana reunion.</p><p>And his top-streaming song on Spotify, above any Beatles song, is his 2015 collaboration with Kanye West and Rihanna, &quot;FourFiveSeconds&quot;.</p><p>Away from music, the singer has dabbled in painting, directed the film &quot;Give My Regards To Broad Street&quot;, and campaigned on causes ranging from animal rights to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.</p><p>He has a son and four daughters -- including high-profile fashion designer Stella, and Beatrice, born to Mills in 2003.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/04/12/20/handwritten-hey-jude-lyrics-sell-for-910000">Handwritten &#x27;Hey Jude&#x27; lyrics sell for $910,000</a></li></ul><p>Of the four Beatles, two have since died: Lennon was shot dead in New York in 1980 and Harrison from cancer in 2001.</p><p>Drummer Ringo Starr is still very much alive and due to start touring again later this year, aged 81.</p><div><strong>cjo/phz/bp</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j3CwzupQSVc?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Paul McCartney turns 80 on Saturday and a week later becomes the oldest headliner to play at the Glastonbury Festival. 

When I get older: Paul McCartney going strong at 80

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

Showbiz

When I get older: Paul McCartney going strong at 80

Charles Onians,

Agence France-Presse

Published Jun 17, 2022 11:20 AM PHT

Read More:

paul mccartney

beatles

fab four

macca

john lennon

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.