A self-taught musician, McCartney is proficient on bass, guitar, keyboards, and drums. He is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing (mainly playing with a plectrum), his versatile and wide tenor vocal range (spanning over four octaves), and his eclecticism (exploring styles ranging from pre-rock and roll pop to classical and electronica). McCartney began his career as a member of the Quarrymen in 1957, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Starting with the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, he gradually became the Beatles' de facto leader, providing the creative impetus for most of their music and film projects. His Beatles songs "And I Love Her" (1964), "Yesterday" (1965), "Eleanor Rigby" (1966) and "Blackbird" (1968) rank among the most covered songs in history.
In 1970, McCartney debuted as a solo artist with the album McCartney. Throughout the 1970s, he led Wings, one of the most successful bands of the decade, with more than a dozen international top 10 singles and albums. McCartney resumed his solo career in 1980. Since 1989, he has toured consistently as a solo artist. In 1993, he formed the music duo the Fireman with Youth of Killing Joke. Beyond music, he has taken part in projects to promote international charities related to such subjects as animal rights, seal hunting, land mines, vegetarianism, poverty, and music education.
McCartney is one of the most successful composers and performers of all time. He has written or co-written 32 songs that have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2009, had sales of 25.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States. His honours include two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1999), 18 Grammy Awards, an appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1965, and a knighthood in 1997 for services to music. As of 2020, he is also one of the wealthiest musicians in the world, with an estimated fortune of £800 million.
Best known for primarily using a plectrum or pick, McCartney occasionally plays fingerstyle. He was strongly influenced by Motown artists, in particular James Jamerson, whom McCartney called a hero for his melodic style. He was also influenced by Brian Wilson, as he commented: "because he went to very unusual places". Another favourite bassist of his is Stanley Clarke. McCartney's skill as a bass player has been acknowledged by bassists including Sting, Dr. Dre bassist Mike Elizondo, and Colin Moulding of XTC.
During McCartney's early years with the Beatles, he primarily used a Höfner 500/1 bass, although from 1965, he favoured his Rickenbacker 4001S for recording. While typically using Vox amplifiers, by 1967, he had also begun using a Fender Bassman for amplification. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he used a Wal 5-String, which he said made him play more thick-sounding basslines, in contrast to the much lighter Höfner, which inspired him to play more sensitively, something he considers fundamental to his playing style. He changed back to the Höfner around 1990 for that reason. He uses Mesa Boogie bass amplifiers while performing live.
McCartney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 as a member of the Beatles and again as a solo artist in 1999. In 1979, the Guinness Book of World Records recognised McCartney as the "most honored composer and performer in music", with 60 gold discs (43 with the Beatles, 17 with Wings) and, as a member of the Beatles, sales of over 100 million singles and 100 million albums, and as the "most successful song writer", he wrote jointly or solo 43 songs which sold one million or more records between 1962 and 1978. In 2009, Guinness World Records again recognised McCartney as the "most successful songwriter" having written or co-written 188 charted records in the United Kingdom, of which 91 reached the top 10 and 33 made it to number one.
McCartney has written, or co-written, 32 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: twenty with the Beatles; seven solo or with Wings; one as a co-writer of "A World Without Love", a number-one single for Peter and Gordon; one as a co-writer on Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"; one as a co-writer on Stars on 45's "Medley"; one as a co-writer with Michael Jackson on "Say Say Say"; and one as writer on "Ebony and Ivory" performed with Stevie Wonder. As of 2009, he has 15.5 million RIAA certified units in the United States as a solo artist plus another 10 million with Wings.
Credited with more number ones in the UK than any other artist, McCartney has participated in twenty-four chart topping singles: seventeen with the Beatles, one solo, and one each with Wings, Stevie Wonder, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and "The Christians et al." He is the only artist to reach the UK number one as a soloist ("Pipes of Peace"), duo ("Ebony and Ivory" with Wonder), trio ("Mull of Kintyre", Wings), quartet ("She Loves You", the Beatles), quintet ("Get Back", the Beatles with Billy Preston) and as part of a musical ensemble for charity (Ferry Aid).
"Yesterday" is one of the most covered songs in history with more than 2,200 recorded versions, and according to the BBC, "the track is the only one by a UK writer to have been aired more than seven million times on American TV and radio and is third in the all-time list ... [and] is the most played song by a British writer [last] century in the US". His 1968 Beatles composition "Hey Jude" achieved the highest sales in the UK that year and topped the US charts for nine weeks, which is longer than any other Beatles single. It was also the longest single released by the band and, at seven minutes eleven seconds, was at that time the longest number one. "Hey Jude" is the best-selling Beatles single, achieving sales of over five million copies soon after its release.
In July 2005, McCartney's performance of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with U2 at Live 8 became the fastest-released single in history. Available within forty-five minutes of its recording, hours later it had achieved number one on the UK Official Download Chart.
In December 2020, the release of his album McCartney III and its subsequent charting at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 earned McCartney the feat of being the first artist to have a new album in the top two chart positions in each of the last six decades.
She's Leaving Home
Paul McCartney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the backdoor key
Stepping outside she is free
She (We gave her most of our lives)
Home (We gave her everything money could buy)
She's leaving home after living alone
For so many years. Bye, bye
Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that's lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
Daddy our baby's gone.
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly
How could she do this to me
She (We never though of ourselves)
Is leaving (Never a thought for ourselves)
Home (We struggled hard all our lives to get by)
She's leaving home after living alone
For so many years. Bye, bye
Friday morning at nine o'clock she is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Meeting a man from the motor trade
She (What did we do that was wrong)
Is having (We didn't know it was wrong)
Fun (Fun is the one thing that money can't buy)
Something inside that was always denied
For so many years. Bye, Bye
The lyrics of Paul McCartney's song She's Leaving Home tell the story of a young girl who decides to leave her home after living alone for many years. The song starts on Wednesday morning at five o'clock when the girl silently closes her bedroom door and leaves a note for her parents. She goes to the kitchen to retrieve her handkerchief, and then quietly turns the backdoor key before stepping outside and feeling free.
Meanwhile, her father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown and picks up the letter that the girl left behind. Standing alone at the top of the stairs, the mother breaks down and cries to her husband about how thoughtlessly their daughter treated them. She wonders how their daughter could do this to her and her husband after they sacrificed the majority of their lives and gave her everything money could buy.
On Friday morning at nine o'clock, the girl is far away, waiting to meet a man from the motor trade. She's having fun, finally experiencing something inside that was always denied of her. The song highlights the struggle of parents who gave everything they had for their child, only to watch them leave without looking back. It shows how the child, despite being given all that money could buy, was still not happy and needed something more in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins
The day starts and it is very early in the morning
Silently closing her bedroom door
She closes her door quietly
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She left a note that she thought would explain why she was leaving
She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief
She goes to the kitchen holding a handkerchief tightly
Quietly turning the backdoor key
She unlocks and opens the backdoor slowly and quietly
Stepping outside she is free
She feels free once she steps outside
She (We gave her most of our lives)
We gave her all our love and attention
Is leaving (Sacrificed most of our lives)
She is leaving us after we gave her so much
Home (We gave her everything money could buy)
We provided her with everything she needed
She's leaving home after living alone
She is leaving home after living in isolation
For so many years. Bye, bye
She has been alone for a long time and is saying goodbye
Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
The father is asleep while the mother gets dressed
Picks up the letter that's lying there
She picks up the letter that was left behind
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She is standing by herself at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
She cries to her husband out of sadness
Daddy our baby's gone.
She tells her husband that their child has left
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly
She wonders why their child left without thinking of their feelings
How could she do this to me
She questions how their child could leave them in such a way
She (We never though of ourselves)
They never thought of themselves, only their child
Is leaving (Never a thought for ourselves)
Their child is leaving them without thinking of their own feelings
Home (We struggled hard all our lives to get by)
They worked hard to provide their child with a good life
She's leaving home after living alone
She is leaving home after years of isolation
For so many years. Bye, bye
She has been alone for some time and is saying goodbye
Friday morning at nine o'clock she is far away
It is Friday morning and she is already far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
She is waiting to keep the appointment that she scheduled
Meeting a man from the motor trade
She is meeting a man involved in the motor industry
She (What did we do that was wrong)
Her parents question what they did to make her leave
Is having (We didn't know it was wrong)
She is having fun, and her parents didn't know it was wrong
Fun (Fun is the one thing that money can't buy)
Fun is a priceless thing that cannot be bought with money
Something inside that was always denied
She is having new experiences that she was never able to have before
For so many years. Bye, Bye
She lived without trying new experiences for a long time and is saying goodbye
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Lennon, Paul Mccartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind