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Magical mystery tour.

Release date: 27 November 1967

"It was like we were in another phase of our career you know we'd done all the live stuff and that was marvellous, now we were into being more artists. We got more freedom to be artists." PAUL

"If you think it was good, keep it, if you don't, scrap it." JOHN

"You have success with something that might have seemed like a far out idea, people had said wow this is great and so when we'd come back again George would be really quite keen to try, what other ideas have you got?" GEORGE

"And now we are going to play a track from Magical Mystery Tour which is one of my favourite albums because it was so weird I Am The Walrus, one of my favourite tracks because I did it of course but also cos it's one of those that has enough little bitties going to keep you interested even a hundred years later." JOHN

"The Beatles songs had started to sound more individual from Revolver onwards or even before then." GEORGE MARTIN

The Beatles devised, wrote and directed a television film called Magical Mystery Tour which was broadcast on BBC Television at Christmas, 1967

Even before Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, had hit the shops, the idea of the programme had been born and work had commenced on the title track.

It was decided that the soundtrack for the programme would be released on two seven inch discs which would be packaged with a booklet in a gatefold sleeve. The booklet contained stills from the show along with a comic strip telling the story. A lyric sheet was also stapled into the centrespread of the booklet. The EP was a runaway success and reached no. 2 in the UK singles chart, held off the top spot by their own single... "Hello, Goodbye".

In the US, the double-EP format was not considered viable so instead, Capitol Records created an album by placing the six songs from the EP on side one of an album and drawing side two from the titles that had appeared on singles in 1967. These titles were "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", "All You Need Is Love" - their anthem that had been broadcast around the world via Satellite in June. "Baby, You're A Rich Man" and their current single, "Hello, Goodbye". The US release made # 1 in early January 1968 and stayed there for eight weeks. Its initial chart run lasted 59 weeks.

1967 had certainly been a year of great achievement but it was also tinged with sadness. Brian Epstein, The Beatles' manager since 1961 passed away on 27th August, 1967 at the age of 32.

The US configuration for Magical Mystery Tour was later adopted by many other countries (including the UK in 1976). When the Beatles catalogue was first issued on Compact Disc in 1987, Magical Mystery Tour joined the core list of titles.

If they aren't already planning so, the Beatles should start planning their next full-length film immediately. After watching a rough cut of their 'Magical Mystery Tour', which BBC viewers can see on Boxing Day. I am convinced they are extremely capable of writing and directing a major movie for release on one of the major cinema circuits. The film sequences for the musical numbers are extremely clever. For 'Blue Jay Way' George is seen sitting cross-legged in a sweating mist which materialises into a variety of shapes and patterns. It's a pity that most TV viewers will be able to see it only in black and white. 'I Am The Walrus' has four of them togged up in animal costumes switching at times to them bobbing across the screen as egg-men. A special word of praise for Ringo, who more than the others comes over very, very funnily. But praise to all of them for making a most entertaining film. I only wish they would now put out a sequel made up from the parts they left on the cutting-room floor. NME July 20, 1967

• Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

Buy Magical Mystery Tour  on CD ,  on stereo vinyl , or on mono vinyl

Listen to Magical Mystery Tour on Apple Music or on Spotify

Originally begun as a side project of Paul’s, who was experimenting with video and electronic soundtracks, Magical Mystery Tour was the Beatles’ first project since the death of manager Brian Epstein. Soon all four of the Beatles were involved in the project, which turned out to be a disaster. Without Epstein to look over the project, everything wrong that could’ve happened did – including the “Magical Mystery Tour” sign falling off of the bus. The film aired on BBC at Christmas time and was criticized, mocked, and laughed at. Paul replied, “Aren’t we entitled to a flop?” The album, though, was a smash. In the UK it was originally released as a double-EP set and reached #1 across the world.

Capitol’s full length LP version

Capitol, noting that their two previous US Beatles EPs were flops, refused to issue a double EP set, instead adding recent singles and b-sides for a full album. That full LP version was issued in England in 1976 and Germany in 1971 and became part of Beatles canon when their discography was standardized in 1987 on compact disc. It was the last US release to be issued in both mono and stereo, the mono version being more rare. Nominated for the 1968 Grammy for Album Of The Year.

The sourcing disaster

When EMI decided to issue the US LP version of Magical Mystery Tour in the UK for the first time they contacted Capitol for their masters rather than recompiling the album from their own masters. The Capitol masters were fourth generation masters; the original stereo EP mix was copied for Capitol, those mixes were redubbed to match Capitol’s audio standards along with fake stereo mixes for side B, then those tapes were duplicated and sent to EMI who cataloged them in their tape vaults as the stereo masters. It was from those fifth generation masters that the MFSL reissues were created – which were supposed to be sourced from the original masters for the best possible audio quality. Needless to say, fans were extremely critical of the MFSL reissue.

The notable German edition: Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs

The German edition of Magical Mystery Tour is notable for offering, for the first time, true stereo remixes of 3 of the non-soundtrack songs found on side B:  Penny Lane ,  Baby You’re A Rich Man , and  All You Need Is Love . In reality it wasn’t until the second version of the album, released in 1973, that these songs were featured on the album. There are three main versions of the album:

First version, released 1971 (matrix SHZE 327 – A-1 and SHZE 327 – B-1) . The first version is the same as the 1967 Capitol US edition, which utilized duophonic or “fake stereo” versions of Penny Lane, Baby You’re A Rich Man, and All You Need Is Love. The cover features a red/pink Hörzu logo in the upper left. This version was also released in 1973 as Odeon 28 642-7.

Second version, released 1973 (matrix SHZE 327 – A-1 and SHZE 327 – B-3) . The second version utilized the 1969 stereo mix of All You Need Is Love from the  Yellow Submarine  LP as well as new stereo mixes of Penny Lane and Baby You’re A Rich Man. It also included a brand new remix of Strawberry Fields Forever with greater stereo separation, improved percussion, and moving of the left to right panned cello and trumpet heard at the edit point of the song to only the right. This cover features the black and orange Hörzu logo in the upper left (pictured above), and an Apple-branded variation released around the same time features the Apple logo in the upper left instead. This is generally considered to be the best-sounding stereo vinyl pressing available.

Third version, released 1976 (matrix SHZE 327 – A-1 04449-A1+C and SHZE 327 – B-3 04449-B1+C) . The third version has a smaller deadwax area with the same matrices as the second version and features significantly heavier bass. It features the Apple logo in the upper left of the front cover.

• Magical Mystery Tour
• The Fool On The Hill
• Blue Jay Way
• Your Mother Should Know
• I Am The Walrus
• Hello Goodbye
• Strawberry Fields Forever
• Baby You’re A Rich Man
• All You Need Is Love

Release history

• Capitol MAL 2835 (mono), released November 27, 1967
• Capitol SMAL 2835 (stereo), released November 27, 1967
• World Record Club SLZ 8308, released 1970 (New Zealand, as ‘Magical Mystery Tour And Other Splendid Hits’)
• Apple PCSM 6084, released 1970 (New Zealand, as ‘Magical Mystery Tour And Other Splendid Hits’)
• pple/Horzu SHZE 327, released 1971 (Germany, as titled ‘Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs’)
• Odeon 28 642-7 (club issue with same mixes as the 1971 release and 1967 US Capitol stereo versions), released 1973  (Germany, as titled ‘Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs’)
• Apple SHZE 327 (2nd issue), released 1973 (Germany, as titled ‘Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs’)
• Apple/EMI 1C 072-04 449 (3rd issue), released 1976 (Germany, as titled ‘Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs’)
• Parlophone PCTC 255, released November 19, 1976
• Parlophone PCTC 255 (yellow vinyl), released May 1979
• Mobile Fidelity MFSL 1-047, released January 30, 1981
• Parlophone CDP 7 48062 2 (stereo CD), released September 22, 1987
• Capitol C1-48062, released July 1, 1988
• Apple 0946 3 82465 2 7 (remastered stereo CD), released September 9, 2009
• Capitol MAL 2835 (remastered mono CD), released September 9, 2009 in  The Beatles In Mono  box set

Magical Mystery Tour And Other Splendid Hits (New Zealand, 1970)

In New Zealand Magical Mystery Tour was released as Magical Mystery Tour And Other Splendid Hits and with three known label variations but with the same track list. The last 4 songs are in mono.

Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs (Germany, 1971)

Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs (Germany, 1971, First version Hörzu cover cover)

Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs (Germany, Apple label cover)

Cassette edition (Canada)

• Capitol, 4XT-2835

Cassette edition (France, 1972)

• Odeon C 244-04449 (listed on sleeve)
• Odeon C 244-044.49 (listed on cassette)

Cassette edition (Germany)

• EMI 1C 244-04 449 / Apple 1C 244-04 449

Cassette edition (Germany, 1972)

• HÖR ZU 1 C 244 04 449 / Apple 1 C 244 04 449, released 1972

Cassette edition (India, 1994)

• His Master’s Voice STCS PCTC 890022, released 1994
• Parlophone STCS PCTC 890022, released 1994

Cassette edition (Mexico)

• Capitol CLEM-103

Cassette edition (US, 1992)

• Apple Records C4-48062, released 1992
• Capitol Records C4-48062, released 1992

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Why the Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ Was Scattered, but Essential

The Beatles  were on a roll in 1967.

They not only had released what many fans consider their best-ever album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , they also were writing and recording new songs at such a pace that those fans – not to mention radio and retailers – could hardly be expected to keep up with them.

In fact, six weeks after Sgt. Pepper's came out in late May 1967, the Beatles released a new single, "All You Need Is Love," backed with "Baby, You're a Rich Man." Those two songs, along with a pair of tracks recorded at the start of the Sgt. Pepper's sessions and other more recent tracks, ended up on the U.S. edition of Magical Mystery Tour , which was released on Nov. 27, 1967.

In the U.K., the 11-song LP was pared down to a six-track double EP that came out almost two weeks later, on Dec. 8, and included only the songs recorded specifically for the Magical Mystery Tour film project the group aired on British television that Christmas. The remaining five cuts, pushed to Side Two of the U.S. release, were released as singles between February 1967 and all the way up to just a few days before the album came out.

It's a tricky release history that suits the scattershot nature of Magical Mystery Tour in general.

Following the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on May 26, 1967, the Beatles – no doubt feeling invincible after the rapturous reception to the album – wanted to make a movie about themselves that included new music. The idea was to load a whole bunch of people onto a bus (including the four Beatles, John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ) and take them on a day-long trip. Along the way, they would stop so the group could perform, or rather lip-sync to, some of those new songs.

The movie, a 52-minute special that aired on the BBC on Dec. 26, 1967, was a notorious mess . There was no script, no director to speak of and no discernible point to the self-indulgence on display. There were new Beatles songs, however, and that was enough to salvage the project.

Still, as an album ,  Magical Mystery Tour  feels like a letdown after the recent creative landmarks Rubber Soul , Revolver and Sgt. Pepper – and the ones to come, like the White Album (their next proper LP released the following year) and Abbey Road . And that's mainly because it was never intended as an album, but an EP designed to tie in to a holiday TV special.

Watch the Beatles' 'Penny Lane' Video

So, while Side One of the album – which includes the title track, "The Fool on the Hill," "Flying," "Blue Jay Way," "Your Mother Should Know" and "I Am the Walrus" – flows as an occasionally spotty soundtrack, Side Two sounds like what it is: a hodgepodge of recordings the group assembled over the past year. They're all great songs, but within the LP's context, "Hello, Goodbye," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Penny Lane," "Baby, You're a Rich Man" and "All You Need Is Love" come off like one of those sketchy Beatles albums Capitol Records put together in the States from leftover U.K. singles and album tracks.

Still, Magical Mystery Tour completed fans' collections by gathering some great songs that weren't previously available on any album – especially "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane," both of which were recorded for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band but released five months before the LP came out to satisfy record-company demands for new product.

And it is an essential collection of Beatles songs, even if the concept and context is occasionally flawed when measured alongside the band's other albums from the era. Not that it mattered much to fans.  Magical Mystery Tour  shot straight up the U.S. chart and stayed at No. 1 for two months. And these days it's considered a part of the Beatles' core catalog; the U.S. album has been remastered and reissued along with the group's 11 original U.K. albums.

It belongs there. Just don't expect it to fall together as seamlessly as the others.

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Magical Mystery Tour

September 9, 2009

After the death of manager Brian Epstein, the Beatles took a series of rather poor turns, the first of which was the Magical Mystery Tour film. Conceived as a low-key art project, the Beatles were oddly nonchalant about the challenges of putting together a movie. They'd assembled records, they'd worked on A Hard Day's Night and Help! -- how hard could it be? Without Epstein to advise, however, things like budgeting and time management became a challenge, and this understated experimental film turned into a sapping distraction.

Musically, however, the accompanying EP was an overwhelming success. The EP format apparently freed the band to experiment a bit, not having to fill sides of a 45 with pop songs or make the grand statements of an album. The title track is a rousing set piece, meant to introduce the travelogue concept of the film. The remaining four songs released exclusive to the EP are low-key marvels-- Paul McCartney's graceful "The Fool on the Hill" and music-hall throwback "Your Mother Should Know", George Harrison's droning "Blue Jay Way", and the percolating instrumental "Flying". Few of them are anyone's all-time favorite Beatles songs, only one had a prayer of being played on the radio, and yet this run seems to achieve a majesty in part because of that: It's a rare stretch of amazing Beatles music that can seem like a private obsession rather than a permanent part of our shared culture.

As a more laid-back release, the EP suggested the direction the band might have taken on the White Album had it remained a full band, happy to shed the outsized conceptualism and big statements and craft atmospheric, evocative pieces. In the U.S., the EP was paired with three recent double-sided singles, ballooning Magical Mystery Tour into an album-- the only instance in which a U.S. release, often mangled by Capitol, became Beatles canon. With only the EP's title track married specifically to the film's themes, the overall effect of a title track/album sleeve as shell game was in line with Sgt. Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band .

Of the three singles, the undisputed highlight is "Strawberry Fields Forever"/ "Penny Lane", John Lennon and Paul McCartney's tributes to their hometown, Liverpool. Slyly surreal, assisted by studio experimentation but not in debt to it, full of brass, harmonium, and strings, unmistakably English-- when critics call eccentric or baroque UK pop bands "Beatlesesque," this is the closest there is to a root for that adjective. There is no definitive Beatles sound, of course, but with a band that now functions as much as a common, multi-generational language as a group of musicians, it's no surprise that songs rooted in childhood-- the one experience most likely to seem shared and have common touchpoints-- are among their most universally beloved.

The rest of the singles collected here are no less familiar: Lennon's "All You Need Is Love" was initially completed up for an international TV special on BBC1-- its basic message was meant to translate to any language. Harrison's guitar solo, producer George Martin's strings, and the parade of intertextual musical references that start and close the piece elevate it above hippie hymn. Its flipside, "Baby You're a Rich Man", is less successful, a second-rate take on John Lennon's money-isn't-everything theme from the considerably stronger "And Your Bird Can Sing". It's the one lesser moment on an otherwise massively rewarding compilation.

Much better from Lennon is "I Am the Walrus", crafted for the Magical Mystery Tour film and EP but also released as a double-sided single with McCartney's "Hello Goodbye". One of Lennon's signature songs, "Walrus" channels the singer's longtime fascinations with Lewis Carroll, puns and turns of phrase, and non sequiturs. "Hello Goodbye" echoes the same contradictory logic found in the verses of "All You Need Is Love", a vague sense of disorientation that still does little to balance its relentlessly upbeat tone. McCartney excelled at selling simplistic lyrics that risk seeming cloying, though, and he again does here-- plus, the kaleidoscopic, carnival-ride melody and interplay between lead and backing vocals ensure it's a much better record than it is a song.

In almost every instance on those singles, the Beatles are either whimsical or borderline simplistic, releasing songs that don't seem sophisticated or heavy or monumental (even though most of them are). In that sense, they're all like "All You Need Is Love" or childhood memories or Lewis Carroll-- easy to love, fit for all ages, rich in multi-textual details, deceptively trippy (see Paul's "Penny Lane" in particular, with images of it raining despite blue skies, or the songs here that revel in contradictions-- "Hello Goodbye"'s title, the verses in "All You Need Is Love"). More than any other place in the band's catalogue, this is where the group seems to crack open a unique world, and for many young kids then and since this was their introduction to music as imagination, or adventure. The rest of the Magical Mystery Tour LP is the opposite of the middle four tracks on the EP-- songs so universal that, like "Yellow Submarine", they are practically implanted in your brain from birth. Seemingly innocent, completely soaked through with humor and fantasy, Magical Mystery Tour slots in my mind almost closer to the original Willy Wonka or The Wizard of Oz as it does other Beatles records or even other music-- timeless entertainment crafted with a childlike curiosity and appeal but filled with wit and wonder.

On the whole, Magical Mystery Tour is quietly one of the most rewarding listens in the Beatles' career. True, it doesn't represent some sort of forward momentum or clear new idea-- largely in part because it wasn't conceived as an album. The accompanying pieces on the EP are anomalies in the Beatles oeuvre but they aren't statements per se, or indications that the group is in any sort of transition. But if there was ever a moment in the Beatles' lifetime that listeners would have been happy to have the group just settle in and release songs as soon as possible, it was just before and after the then-interminable 10-month gap between the Revolver and *Sgt. Pepper'* s . Without that context, the results could seem slight-- a sort-of canonized version of Past Masters perhaps-- but whether it's an album, a collection of separate pieces, or whatnot matters little when the music itself is so incredible.

[ Note : Click here for an overview of the 2009 Beatles reissues, including discussion of the packaging and sound quality.]

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‘Magical Mystery Tour’: The Non-Album That Accidentally Became One of The Beatles’ Best

Jim Beviglia

Updated: 

In the realm of rock and roll debates, the argument over which Beatles album is the best is one of the mostly hotly-contested. Perhaps because the records that are most mentioned ( Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band , Revolver , The White Album , Abbey Road , Rubber Soul ) are also in the running for greatest rock and roll albums of all time. 

But we’re here to make a case for an album that technically wasn’t an album, at least not to start. Magical Mystery Tour is a bit of an odd duck in the catalog of the Fab Four. And yet, you can make the case that the 11 songs that it contains are as strong as any set The Beatles ever released. Let’s explore how this collection of tracks evolved into what it is today, beginning with a look at the record company shenanigans behind its strange status.

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Emi vs. capitol.

The Beatles’ music was released in America courtesy of Capitol Records, which was the North American arm of parent company EMI. EMI pretty much gave Capitol free rein in the early days of the group in terms of how the music would be packaged for American audiences. Which is why there was a divergence between the UK and American versions of the albums.

For example, albums like Meet the Beatles! and Something New only existed in America. In some cases, an album would have the same title on both sides of the Atlantic and still contain a different collection of songs. Those who bought Rubber Soul in America, for instance, were greeted with “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” which had been released in Britain on Help! , as the first track. The general idea was to divvy up the material into as many releases as possible in the U.S.

By the time Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in 1967, The Beatles stepped in and insisted that their original vision of the album be honored in America. From that point forward, there was no separation between the EMI and Capitol albums. With the exception, that is, of the soundtrack for a bizarre Beatles film named Magical Mystery Tour .

[RELATED: 4 Beatles Songs That Capture Life on the Road]

A Fantastic Flop

Following the death of manager Brian Epstein in August 1967, The Beatles pushed forward with a Paul McCartney idea for a new film that they’d put together pretty much by themselves and which would feature new, original songs. Magical Mystery Tour , which debuted on television in Great Britain on Boxing Day in ’67, was a glorified home movie detailing a ramshackle bus trip that was occasionally interrupted by surreally absurd (or maybe they were absurdly surreal) set pieces.

The movie dumbfounded audiences and stirred up critics to deliver some of the first negative reviews the band had ever received for anything they had released. But it was hard to deny the brilliance of the music contained in the movie. John Lennon’s “I Am the Walrus” was majestic madness, Paul McCartney’s “The Fool on the Hill” served up lovely melancholia, and the wild experimentation of George Harrison’s “It’s All Too Much” was the best kind of overkill. Throw in the shiny title track, the charming instrumental “Flying,” and a fun McCartney singalong in “Your Mother Should Know,” and it was clear the boys were still operating at the psychedelic peak they reached during Sgt. Pepper’s , which had come out earlier in the year.

Leave It to the Yanks

In Great Britain, those songs were released as a double EP (extended play) disc. But Capitol knew that the EP format didn’t do that well in America. Thus, they came up with the idea to round up the singles and B-sides the group had released throughout 1967 and turn those songs into the second side of an LP.

And what a batch of songs that was. There was the 1-2 punch of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane,” which had introduced the world to the studio-bound Beatles (they gave up touring in ’66) and set the table for Pepper’s . “All You Need Is Love,” the ultimate Summer of Love anthem that the group had done as a one-off for a worldwide television special, was included, as was its quirky yet engaging B-side “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.” Topping it all off was the endlessly catchy “Hello, Goodbye,” which the group had released as a single in the interim between Pepper’s and the film.

At the time, The Beatles had complained about this Frankenstein monster of an album being released in America. But it’s telling that, when the Fab Four put their catalog on CD for the first time in the late ‘80s, they included the American version of Magical Mystery Tour in the package.

And why wouldn’t they? The songs all came from roughly the same time period and captured the band at a dizzyingly high creative point. Magical Mystery Tour can go toe-to-toe with any of the heavyweights in The Beatles’ collection of albums. Not bad at all, especially when you consider it took some record company interference to create the definitive version of it.

Photo by Jim Gray/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Paul McCartney Through the Years: The Beatles, Solo Career and More

Paul McCartney rose to worldwide stardom as a member of The Beatles alongside John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Nicknamed the “cute Beatle,” McCartney’s talent as a songwriter and musician led to his partnership with Lennon and the formation of The Beatles, one of the most iconic groups in history. McCartney and Lennon cowrote many of the bands’ hit songs, including “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Let It Be.”

In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present , McCartney described writing with Lennon as a “kind of pingpong.”

“He’d be sitting there and I’d be sitting there, and one of us would suggest an opening line. And then the other one would go, ‘OK’ and would make a suggestion for the second line,” McCartney explained. “It was just easier with me and John, just because you could iron out any wrinkles there and then.”

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In 2023, McCartney and Starr completed Lennon’s unfinished demo of “Now and Then.” With the use of new technology, the two were able to use guitar tracks by Harrison and salvaged Lennon’s voice with audio restoration technology. Lennon died in December 1980 after being shot by an envious fan named Mark David Chapman and Harrison died in November 2001 due to cancer.

In November that year, McCartney told BBC Radio 1 that while recording, “You could imagine he [Lennon] was just in the next room in a vocal booth or something” and that “it’s very special for me to be singing with John again.”

Keep scrolling to see a timeline of McCartney’s career:

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Paul McCartney rose to worldwide stardom as a member of The Beatles alongside John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Nicknamed the “cute Beatle,” McCartney’s talent as a songwriter and musician led to his partnership with Lennon and the formation of The Beatles, one of the most iconic groups in history. McCartney and Lennon cowrote many of the bands’ hit songs, including “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Let It Be.” In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present , McCartney described writing with Lennon as a “kind of pingpong.” “He’d be sitting there and I’d be sitting there, and one of us would suggest an opening line. And then the other one would go, ‘OK’ and would make a suggestion for the second line,” McCartney explained. “It was just easier with me and John, just because you could iron out any wrinkles there and then.” In 2023, McCartney and Starr completed Lennon’s unfinished demo of “Now and Then.” With the use of new technology, the two were able to use guitar tracks by Harrison and salvaged Lennon’s voice with audio restoration technology. Lennon died in December 1980 after being shot by an envious fan named Mark David Chapman and Harrison died in November 2001 due to cancer. In November that year, McCartney told BBC Radio 1 that while recording, “You could imagine he [Lennon] was just in the next room in a vocal booth or something” and that “it’s very special for me to be singing with John again.” Keep scrolling to see a timeline of McCartney’s career:

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1957 to 1960

McCartney met Lennon and his band, The Quarrymen, when he was 15 years old. The members invited McCartney to join as a rhythm guitarist and in 1958, Harrison joined as lead guitarist. Bassist Stuart Sutcliffe joined two years later and they adopted the name The Beatles in August of that year.

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1962 to 1964

During the band’s five-year residency in Hamburg, they recorded with Tony Sheridan on the single “My Bonnie,” gaining attention from Brian Epstein , who would go on to become their manager. Months later, Starr joined as the drummer for The Beatles. The band released their first hit, “Love Me Do,” in October 1962, which led to their widespread popularity in the U.K. and in the U.S. over the next two years. Their surge to stardom became known as “Beatlemania.”

McCartney and Lennon cowrote more hit singles for the band and they released the songs “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in 1963. In 1964, they wrote “Can’t Buy Me Love.”

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1965 to 1966

The Beatles released McCartney’s composition of “Yesterday” on their 1965 LP Help! . They recorded their album Rubber Soul later that year. 

McCartney started to gain more traction as a songwriter, arranger, composer and producer. In 1966, the band released their album Revolver , which included an expanded range of musical genres, and embarked on their U.S. tour.

After their tour, McCartney completed his first musical project independent of the group. He composed the film score for the U.K. production of The Family Way , earning an Ivor Novello Award for Best Instrumental Theme.

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McCartney pushed the Beatles to do another project, which resulted in their album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band . It was widely regarded as rock’s first concept album and included the songs “A Day in the Life,” “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane.”

Epestein died in August, months after the release of their album, which left The Beatles unsure of their future. McCartney stepped in as the de facto business manager of the group, proposing the band move forward to produce a film for TV which resulted in the Magical Mystery Tour .

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1968 to 1970

The Beatles released the animated film Yellow Submarine in July 1968, but relations within the band started to deteriorate. Tensions between members grew while recording their eponymous double album, also known as the “White Album.” Following the release of their last recorded album, Abbey Road , in 1969, Lennon left the band and McCartney exited the following year.

In May 1969, McCartney married his first wife, Linda Eastman , and they welcomed daughter Mary in August later that year. As The Beatles were breaking up, McCartney fell into a depression, but Linda encouraged him to keep writing and producing. McCartney made his solo debut in 1970 with the album McCartney . It featured the song “Maybe I’m Amazed,” which he dedicated to his wife. Later that year, he filed a suit for The Beatles’ formal dissolution, which would not be granted until 1975.

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1971 to 1973

McCartney and Eastman welcomed their second daughter, Stella, in September of 1971. 

He collaborated with his wife and drummer Denny Seiwell months prior for his second album, Ram . Following the addition of guitarists Denny Laine and Henry McCullough , McCartney f ormed the band Wings and they set out on their first tour across the U.K. in 1972. The group released their LP Red Rose Speedway in 1973, which included their first U.S. No. 1 single, “My Love.” McCullough and Seiwell left Wings after their LP, and the remaining group members went on to record their next album, Band on the Run .

That same year, McCartney collaborated with former Beatles producer, George Martin , and Eastman to create the song “Live and Let Die,” which was the theme song for the James Bond film of the same name. Martin earned a Grammy for his orchestral arrangement and McCartney earned an Oscar nomination.

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1975 to 1981

The Beatles officially dissolved in 1975 and Wings went on to earn the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance for their song “Band on the Run” from the album of the same name. The album also earned a Grammy for Best Engineered Recording. With the addition of guitarist McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton , Wings released the album Venus and Mars and embarked on a fourteen-month world tour. This tour marked the first time McCartney performed any of The Beatles’ songs live with Wings, performing “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “Yesterday,” “Blackbird,” “Lady Madonna” and more.  

Wings released the album Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976) and their tour produced the live triple LP Wings Over America . The following year, the McCartneys’ welcomed their third child, son James. The couple, along with the rest of their bandmates, went on to release albums London Town (1978) and Back to the Egg (1979) before disbanding in 1981. McCartney released his second solo LP, McCartney II , in 1980.

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1986 to 1990

McCartney collaborated with Eric Stewart on more than half the songs on his sixth solo album, Press to Play (1986). Two years later McCartney released CHOBA B CCCP , which was recorded over the course of two days. In 1989, McCartney joined forces with Gerry Marsden , Holly Johnson and Elvis Costello for his album Flowers in the Dirt . 

Along with his wife, McCartney formed another group including guitarists Hamish Stuart and Robbie McIntosh , keyboard player Paul “Wix” Wickens and drummer Chris Whitten . In September 1989, they launched the Paul McCartney World Tour (McCartney’s first since touring with Wings). During the tour, the group performed for the largest paying stadium audience in history in April 1990 for 184,000 people in Brazil. The tour produced the triple album, Tripping the Live Fantastic , which contained selected performances from the tour.

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1991 to 1993

In 1991, McCartney was commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society to write a musical piece. He collaborated with composer Carl Davis and they produced Liverpool Oratorio , which featured opera singers Kiri Te Kanawa , Sally Burgess , Jerry Hadley and Willard White and the choir of Liverpool Cathedral.

McCartney went on to collaborate with the artist Youth to release the electronica album, Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (1993). He also released his ninth solo album, Off the Ground (1993), followed by another world tour called the New World Tour, which resulted in the release of the album Paul is Live later that year.

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1994 to 1999

McCartney put his solo career on a brief pause to work on Apple’s Beatles Anthology project alongside Harrison, Starr and Martin. The project consisted of a TV documentary, a three-volume set of double albums and a book detailing the history and break-up of The Beatles .

Returning in 1997, McCartney continued to release albums Flaming Pie (1997), Standing Stone (1997) and Rushes (1998). Following Eastman’s death in 1998 from breast cancer, McCartney released the album Run Devil Run (1999). The album was a project McCartney had been planning for years with the encouragement of Eastman. In April that year, McCartney held a benefit tribute, Concert for Linda , at Royal Albert Hall. 

2000 to 2001

McCartney collaborated with Super Furry Animals and Youth on the electronica album Liverpool Sound Collage (2000). He also dedicated the song “Nova” to a tribute album of classical, choral music called A Garland for Linda (2000), dedicated to his late wife. The following year, McCartney organized a concert for NYC following the events of 9/11 and released his studio album Driving Rain in November, which contained the song “Freedom” written in response to the attacks.

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2002 to 2003

McCartney formed a new band with guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray , Wickens on keyboard and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums. The group went on a world tour in April which resulted in the double live album Back in the U.S .

In June of that year, McCartney married Heather Mills and the two welcomed daughter Beatrice in October 2003. 

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2005 to 2009

McCartney released the albums Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005), Ecce Cor Meum (2006), Memory Almost Full (2007) and Electric Arguments (2008). In 2009, he performed three sold-out concerts in New York which yielded the double live album Good Evening New York City.

McCartney and Mills separated in 2006 and finalized their divorce in 2008. McCartney was awarded joint custody of their daughter .

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2011 to 2015

McCartney was commissioned by the New York City Ballet in 2011 and released his first ballet score called Ocean’s Kingdom . In that same year, he married his third wife, Nancy Shevell .

The artist released the album Kisses on the Bottom in February 2012. In the same month, he was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year and performed at the 54th annual Grammy Awards. In June, McCartney closed Queen Elizabeth ’s Diamond Jubilee Concert held outside Buckingham Palace and at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. 

A year later, he released the album New and in 2014, performed in the final concert at Candlestick Park. McCartney went on to collaborate with Kanye West on the single “Only One.” In early 2015, he collaborated with West and Rihanna on the single “FourFiveSeconds” and they performed it live at the 57th annual Grammy Awards in February.

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2020 to 2024

McCartney released his 18th solo album, McCartney III , in 2020. His book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present , was released in November the following year and is based on conversations the singer had with the Irish poet Paul Muldoon . McCartney then embarked on the “Got Back” tour in the summer of 2022 — his first U.S. tour since 2019.

McCartney earned his first Emmy in 2022 as a producer for the 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back . The documentary covered the making of The Beatles’ 1970 album Let It Be , and used footage and audio recordings captured for the original 1970 documentary Let It Be . In 2023, he published the book 1964: Eyes of the Storm , which contained a collection of photos McCartney had taken at the height of Beatlemania. Starting in October 2024, McCartney will bring his “Got Back” tour to the rest of the world, visiting South America and ending his tour in Europe.

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