Born to a musical family in Liverpool, England, McCartney taught himself to play guitar and in 1956 joined John Lennon's Quarrymen, later renamed the Beatles. In 1961 McCartney took up the bass to distinguish himself from the two guitarists. As the Beatles grew musically, McCartney produced an astonishing series of beautiful compositions, including "Yesterday," "Eleanor Rigby," "Penny Lane," and "Let It Be." Besides being one of the most innovative and melodic bass players in rock, and one of its greatest singers, McCartney was also an accomplished guitarist and pianist. McCartney's solo career was the most successful of all the ex-Beatles. He managed to maintain a freshness and creativity that was sometimes missing in Lennon and Harrison. Often maligned as the "soft" and "commercial" half of the Lennon-McCartney duo, and jealously cited as the richest man in showbusiness, McCartney will be remembered in history as one of the greatest talents of twentieth-century popular music.

Paul McCartney

Further Reading:

Blake, John. All You Needed Was Love: The Beatles After the Beatles. New York, Perigree Books, 1981.

Miles, Barry. Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York, Henry Holt, 1997.