Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is a British singer, musician and songwriter, who first came to prominence as a member of The Beatles. Recognised as an icon of the Twentieth Century, McCartney is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful composer in popular music history. He has a record twenty-nine US number one singles, twenty of them with The Beatles, the rest with Wings and as a solo artist. McCartney has written or has co-writing credit on over 50 top ten hits, more than any other songwriter, and has been an influential bassist as well as an accomplished singer, guitarist, pianist, and drummer. With The Beatles he was one half of the highly successful songwriting team credited as Lennon-McCartney, along with fellow bandmate John Lennon. Their compositions for The Beatles remain amongst the best known songs in pop music. The most notable of The Beatles' songs generally attributed to McCartney alone include "Hey Jude", "Eleanor Rigby", "Yesterday" and "Let It Be".
Following the break-up of The Beatles in 1970, McCartney launched a solo career and - later in the 1970s - formed the band Wings, scoring 30 top ten singles in the United Kingdom and United States. At the time of its release in 1977, the Wings single "Mull of Kintyre" was the highest selling record in British chart history. McCartney has also worked in the fields of classical music (with works such as the Liverpool Oratorio) and ambient/techno music as The Fireman.
Aside from his musical work, McCartney is a painter (although until recently he kept his artwork private) and a strong advocate for animal rights, landmine action, vegetarianism, and music education.
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
