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Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), McCartney is the most commercially successful songwriter in the history of popular music, according to Guinness World Records.

McCartney gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and wrote some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles in the United Kingdom.

BBC News Online readers named McCartney the "greatest composer of the millennium", and BBC News cites his Beatles song "Yesterday" as the most covered song in the history of recorded music—by over 2,200 artists—and since its 1965 release, has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio according to the BBC. Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK's top-selling non-charity single. Based on the 93 weeks his compositions have spent at the top spot of the UK chart, and 24 number one singles to his credit, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in UK singles chart history. As a performer or songwriter, McCartney was responsible for 31 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, and has sold 15.5 million RIAA certified albums in the US alone.

McCartney has composed film scores, classical and electronic music, released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist, and has taken part in projects to help international charities. He is an advocate for animal rights, for vegetarianism, and for music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt. He is a keen football fan, supporting both Everton and Liverpool football clubs. His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, and Grease. McCartney is one of the UK's wealthiest people, with an estimated fortune of £475 million in 2010.

McCartney is a two-time inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the first time being in 1988 as a member of The Beatles, and the second time in 1999, eleven years after he was first inducted, for his solo career.

Discography[]

Albums[]

  1. McCartney (1970)
  2. Ram (1971) - With Linda McCartney
  3. McCartney II (1980)
  4. Tug Of War (1982)
  5. Pipes Of Peace (1983)
  6. Give My Regards To Broad Street (1984)
  7. Press To Play (1986)
  8. Снова в СССР (1988)
  9. Flowers In The Dirt (1989)
  10. Off The Ground (1993)
  11. Flaming Pie (1997)
  12. Run Devil Run (1999)
  13. Driving Rain (2001)
  14. Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (2005)
  15. Memory Almost Full (2007)
  16. Kisses On The Bottom (2012)
  17. Egypt Station (2018)
  18. McCartney III (2020)

Live albums[]

  1. Tripping The Live Fantastic (1990)
  2. Tripping The Live Fantastic: Highlights! (1990)
  3. Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) (1991)
  4. Paul Is Live (1993)
  5. Back In The U.S. (2002)
  6. Back In The World (2003)
  7. Good Evening New York City (2009)
  8. Amoeba Gig (2019)

Compilation albums[]

  1. All The Best! (1987)
  2. Wingspan: Hits and History (2001)
  3. Pure McCartney (2016)

Classical albums[]

  1. Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio (1991) (with Carl Davis)
  2. Standing Stone (1997)
  3. Working Classical (1999)
  4. A Garland For Linda (2000)
  5. Ecce Cor Meum (2006)
  6. Ocean's Kingdom (2011)

Soundtrack albums[]

  1. The Family Way (1967)
  2. The Honorary Consul (1983)
  3. Give My Regards To Broad Street (1984)

Other albums[]

  1. Thrillington (1977)
  2. Liverpool Sound Collage (2000)
  3. Twin Freaks (2005)

Promotional and limited release albums[]

  1. The McCartney Interview (1980)
  2. Paul McCartney Rocks (1990)
  3. The New World Sampler (1993)
  4. Oobu Joobu - Ecology (1997)
  5. Never Stop Doing What You Love (2005)
  6. Paul: The US Tour Presented By Lexus (2005)
  7. iTunes Festival: London (2007)
  8. Paul McCartney Live In Los Angeles (2010)
  9. iTunes Live From Capitol Studios (2012)
  10. Kisses On The Bottom - Complete Kisses (2012)
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