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A DIARY of EVENTS
1866-1997
1866
November 23 Paul's paternal grandfather, Joe McCartney, is born in Everton. A lifelong lover of music, Joe plays brass double-bass in a band sponsored by Copes, a local firm, and in another sponsored by the local branch of the Territorial Army.
1874
June 2 Florence Clegg, Paul's maternal grandmother, is born at 131 Breck Road, Everton.
1902
July 7 Jim McCartney, Paul's father, is born at 8 Fishguard Street, Everton, Liverpool, to Joe and Florence McCartney.
1909
September 29 Mary Patricia Mohin, Paul's mother, is born at 2 Third Avenue, Tazakerley, Liverpool.
1926
Beatles' producer George Martin is born in Muswell Hill, north London.
1930s
Jim McCartney founds his own orchestra. Known as Jim Mac's Jazz Band, it becomes a popular Liverpool dancehall attraction.
1931
December 18 Allen Klein, one of the Beatles' future managers and well-known Paul McCartney nemesis, is born into a poor family in Newark, New Jersey.
1933
February 18 Yoko Ono is born into a wealthy Tokyo banking family.
1934
September 19 Beatles' manager Brian Epstein is born in a private nursing home on Rodney Street in Liverpool.
1935
Mal Evans, the Beatles' lovable and loyal chief roadie, is born in Liverpool.
1940
June 23 Future Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe is born.
July 7 Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) is born to parents Richard and Elsie just after midnight in their home at 9 Madryn Street in the Dingle section of Liverpool.
October 9 John Winston Lennon is born to Julia Stanley Lennon at the Oxford Street Maternity Hospital in Liverpool during a German air raid. His father, Alf, is away at sea.
1941
April 15 Paul McCartney's parents are married at St. Swithin's Roman Catholic Chapel, Liverpool.
September 24 Linda Louise Eastman is born in Scarsdale, New York, to parents Lee and Louise.
November 24 Future Beatles drummer Randolph Peter Best, better known as Pete, is born in Madras, India.
1942
June 18 James Paul McCartney is born at Woolton Hospital in Liverpool. He is the first of two sons born to Jim and Mary McCartney.
1943
February 25 George Harold Harrison, the youngest child of Harold and Louise Harrison, is born at 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool.
July 10 Future Wings drummer Denny Seiwell is born.
July 21 Future Wings guitarist Henry McCullough is born.
1944
January 7 Peter Michael McCartney, later known professionally as Mike McGear, is born in Liverpool.
July 22 Peter Asher, brother of actress Jane Asher (Paul McCartney's future fiancee) is born. He will eventually become one-half of the popular sixties duo Peter and Gordon and then go into a high-profile position as director of A&R for the Beatles' Apple Records.
October 29 Brian Frederick Hines (Denny Laine) is born in Birmingham to Herbo and Eva Hines.
1946
April 5 Actress Jane Asher is born into the family of wealthy London physician Richard Asher.
1949
February 7 Joe English, future Wings drummer, is born in Rochester, New York.
October 8 Guitarist and vocalist extraordinaire Hamish Stuart is born in Glasgow, Scotland. He becomes the driving force behind the R&B group The Average White Band before joining Paul McCartney's band several years later.
1950
George Martin accepts a position as assistant A&R man for EMl's Parlophone label.
1952
July 13 Joanne Alice Linda Patrie (Jo Jo Laine), the future wife of Wings collaborator Denny Laine, is born in Salem, Massachusetts.
November 12 Wings' final lead guitarist, Laurence Juber, is born in London.
1953
June 4 Jimmy McCulloch, Wings' most passionate and troublesome lead guitarist, is born in Glasgow, Scotland.
August 24 Wings' final drummer, Steve Holly, is born in Isleworth, Middlesex.
September Paul enters the Liverpool Institute.
1954-55
Paul McCartney and schoolmate George Harrison get together for the first time and begin bashing out Lonnie Donegan material in the front room of the Harrisons' home at 25 Upton Green.
1956
March 27 Keyboardist Paul "Wix" Wickens is born in Brentwood, Essex. Wix enjoys his first success working with longtime friend Paul Young before signing on with boyhood hero McCartney.
October 31 Mary McCartney dies unexpectedly from breast cancer.
1957
January 16 A former wine cellar on Mathew Street in Liverpool is opened under the name Cavern Club as a showcase for local jazz and skiffle groups. Rock 'n' roll is strictly forbidden by order of the management.
July 6 John Lennon's schoolboy group, the Quarry Men, performs at the St. Peter's Parish Church garden fete in Woolton village, a lovely Liverpool suburb. In the crowd is Paul McCartney, who is later introduced to Lennon by their mutual friend, Ivan Vaughan. A few days later McCartney is invited to join the group by Quarry Man Pete Shotton.
August John Lennon's Quarry Men play Liverpool's Cavern Club for the first time.
October 18 At the New Clubmoor Club in Liverpool, Paul McCartney plays his first gig with the Quarry Men.
October 25 Guitarist Robbie Mclntosh is born in Sutton, south London. Robbie (or "Tosh" as he is known) learns to play the guitar at the age of ten, giving his first concert one year later, performing "Thank U Very Much" for his peers at primary school. He later plays with the Pretenders and Tears for Fears before joining Paul McCartney's band in 1989.
Late 1957
Percy Phillips, owner of a bare-bones recording studio in his Liverpool basement, records the Quarry Men performing several high-powered skiffle numbers. He later erases the tapes in order to reuse them. It is Lennon and McCartney's first bona fide recording session.
1958
March 13 Paul McCartney introduces John Lennon to crackerjack guitarist, fourteen-year-old George Harrison.
Late 1958
John and Paul do a few gigs together as the Nurk Twins following a brief hiatus from their work with the Quarry Men. Soon, however, they are back with Lennon's renamed group, Johnny and the Moondogs.
Late 1958 or early 1959
McCartney composes the instrumental tune "Hot As Sun," later released on his solo McCartney album in 1970.
1959
Paul, George, and John leave school, along with Stuart Sutcliffe, to begin the business of playing rock 'n' roll in earnest. By this date the songwriting team of Lennon and McCartney has written approximately one hundred songs.
February 3 Early rock legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in the crash of a private plane near Clear Lake, Iowa. Twenty years later, the cufflinks worn by Holly on the fatal flight will be presented to Paul McCartney by Holly's widow, Maria.
March 29 Drummer Chris Whitten is born in Wimbledon, London. After working with Julian Cope and Edie Brickell, Chris would go on to add a sharp edge to the 1989/90 Paul McCartney World Tour.
August 29 The Moondogs are invited to play the opening night party at the Casbah, a teenage coffeehouse run by Mona Best, Pete's gregarious mother.
October 18 Johnny and the Moondogs fail an audition for British television personality Carrol Levis at the Manchester Hippodrome.
Early 1960
Denny Laine forms his own group, Denny and the Diplomats, playing sporadically throughout the Birmingham area.
1960
April Now called the Silver Beatles, John, Paul, George, and Stuart begin a tour of Scotland, backing British balladeer Johnny Gentle.
August Paul McCartney invites Pete Best to join the newly-named Beatles as their regular drummer on their first trip to Germany.
Autumn The Beatles record with members of their rival Liverpool group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, at Akustik Studios in Hamburg.
November 21 The Beatles' engagement in Germany is interrupted after George Harrison is found to be under age by German immigration officials and is unceremoniously deported. The rest of the group soon returns to Liverpool.
1961
February 21 In a lunchtime session the Beatles appear at the Cavern for the first time. Over the next two years they will play 292 gigs at the celebrated Liverpool cellar.
March 1 Allan Williams, the Beatles' manager at the time, writes a letter to the German consulate in Liverpool asking that the group be allowed to return now that Harrison has become of age.
March 24 The Beatles depart from Liverpool for their second trip to Hamburg.
May While in Hamburg the Beatles participate in a Polydor-sponsored session with British singer Tony Sheridan, performing as the Beat Brothers. They record a Lennon-fronted version of "My Bonnie" backed by "The Saints."
June Stuart Sutcliffe leaves the Beatles in order to marry German photographer and early Beatles supporter Astrid Kirchherr. Paul takes over duties on bass guitar.
July 2 The Beatles depart Hamburg for Liverpool. October 1 Lennon and McCartney embark on a two-week hitchhiking trip to Paris. It is there that the celebrated Beatle haircut is born when the two young men meet up with German photographer friend Jurgen Vollmer, who had reportedly been sporting the soon-to-be-famous fringe for several months.
October 29 Raymond Jones walks into NEMS Record Store in Liverpool's Whitechapel shopping district and asks proprietor Brian Epstein for a copy of "My Bonnie."
November 9 Intrigued that a local Liverpool group has cut a record, Epstein and his personal assistant, Alistair Taylor, attend a lunchtime session at the Cavern, where they witness the Beatles in action.
December 3 Epstein meets with the Beatles at NEMS to discuss the possibility of his taking over management of the group.
1962
January 1 The Beatles travel to London for an audition at Decca Records during which McCartney handles lead vocals on several numbers. Recording manager Dick Rowe subsequently turns down the group, confiding to Epstein that groups with guitars are on the way out.
January By means of a five-year contract Brian Epstein officially becomes the Beatles' manager.
April 10 Stuart Sutcliffe dies in Hamburg of an apparent brain hemorrhage.
April 11 The Beatles leave for Hamburg to begin a seven-week engagement at the Star Club.
April 23 "My Bonnie" is issued in the United States on the Decca label.
May 9 Brian Epstein wires the Beatles in Germany that EMI Records has agreed to audition the group at their recording facility on Abbey Road, St. John's Wood.
June 4 The Beatles are offered a Parlophone recording contract by Martin. Brian Epstein happily signs on their behalf.
June 6 The Beatles perform six songs for EMI/Parlophone staff producer George Martin in London.
August 16 Brian Epstein informs Pete Best that Ringo Starr will soon replace him as the Beatles' drummer.
August 18 Ringo Starr plays his first session with the Beatles at the Cavern.
September 4 The Beatles arrive in London to begin recording with George Martin. The group's first single, "Love Me Do" backed by "P.S., I Love You," is culled from these sessions.
October 31 The Beatles once again travel to Hamburg to begin a two-week engagement at the Star Club.
November 26 At London's EMI Studios the Beatles record the songs "How Do You Do It," "Please Please Me," and "Ask Me Why."
December 18 The Beatles begin their final engagement at the Star Club in Hamburg. Alleged McCartney love child Bettina "McCartney" Heubers is born.
1963
February 22 "Please Please Me" becomes the number-one single on the New Musical Express charts. Twenty-four hours later it will do the same on the Disc charts.
April 18 On the BBC radio special, "Swinging Sounds '63," Paul McCartney meets young British superstarlet Jane Asher.
April 26 "From Me to You" reaches number one on the British pop charts.
June 18 McCartney's twenty-first birthday celebration is held at his Auntie Jin's home on Dinas Lane, Huyton.
September 7 "She Loves You" becomes the number-one song on the Melody Maker singles chart, remaining there for the next five weeks.
October 13 The Beatles appear on Britain's top television show, "Sunday Night at the London Palladium."
October 17 London's normally conservative Bond Street is overrun with teenyboppers when Paul McCartney arrives to dine with the winner of the "Why I Like the Beatles" magazine contest.
November 4 The Beatles play a Royal Command Performance.
December 31 Heather See is born to Linda Eastman and her first husband, American college professor Melvin See.
1964
January 30 Mersey Beat magazine prints an interview with Brian Epstein in which he assures McCartney fans that the Beatle has no plans either to be engaged or married to Jane Asher or anyone else.
February 1 "I Want to Hold Your Hand" becomes the number-one record in America.
February 7 The Beatles and their entourage land at Kennedy Airport in New York, where they experience their first taste of the intensity of American Beatlemania.
February 9 The Beatles appear on the "Ed Sullivan Show" in New York. During their performance an estimated 73 million television viewers experience John, Paul, George, and Ringo for the first time.
February 22 McCartney is chauffeured to Canterbury to see Jane Asher perform in the Elizabethan drama The Jew of Malta.
March 20 While taping an appearance by the Beatles on the popular British television series "Ready, Steady, Go!" McCartney denies the persistent rumor that he will soon marry Jane Asher.
April 4 The Beatles hold the top four positions on the American pop charts.
May Denny Laine joins the Moody Blues.
June 2 Paul and Jane attend a performance by Cilia Black at the London Palladium.
July 10 A civic reception is held in Liverpool to honor the Beatles. Over one hundred thousand people attend.
August The Beatles make their second trek to the United States to begin a rigorous twenty-five-city tour.
November 24 Paul McCartney gains a stepmother when his father, Jim, marries thirty-four-year-old widow Angela Williams.
December 8 McCartney hints to the media that he may indeed marry Jane Asher, eventually, although he hastens to add that no specific date has been set.
1965
February 4 Paul and Jane vacation together in Hammamet, Tunisia.
April The Moody Blues' "Go Now," featuring Denny Laine on lead vocals, climbs to number ten on the U.S. Billboard charts.
April 13 It is announced that Paul McCartney has purchased a home on Cavendish Avenue in St. John's Wood for £40,000.
July 7 Paul and Jane, along with George and Pattie Harrison, attend a party at the Roehampton home of the Moody Blues.
August 15 Jane Asher hints to the media that her marriage to Paul is imminent.
While in the U.S., the Beatles are visited by Bob Dylan in their suite at the Warwick Hotel.
August 22 The Minneapolis vice squad raids McCartney's room at the Lemington Motor Inn, where he is in the company of a woman who is under age. The incident receives sporadic media coverage but is effectively suppressed by Brian Epstein.
August 27 The Beatles visit Elvis Presley at his Bel Aire mansion, where they spend the evening drinking Cokes, jamming, and playing billiards with "The King."
October 26 The beatles receive MBEs from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Great Throne Room at Buckingham Palace. Afterwards the group holds a press conference at the Saville Theatre, a new pet project of Brian Epstein's.
December 8 The Moody Blues, who have been touring with the Beatles, dine with the Fabs after a concert at Sheffield city hall.
1966
January 16 Martha, Paul McCartney's celebrated Old English sheepdog, is born in High Wycombe.
January 17 McCartney purchases High Park Farm near Campbeltown, Scotland.
January 26 While the Beatles are in Hamburg, Paul and a former girlfriend visit the Star Club and the Indra.
February 3 McCartney attends a performance by Stevie Wonder at the Scotch of St. James nightclub.
March At Dolly's, a swank London nightclub, McCartney spends the evening with Bob Dylan.
August 26 McCartney denies rumors that he will wed Jane Asher during the Beatles' brief stay in Los Angeles.
August 29 At Candlestick Park in San Francisco, the Beatles give their final concert.
October 13 Denny Laine quits the Moody Blues.
November 9 It is rumored that McCartney is involved in a fatal car crash in which he was supposedly decapitated. According to the widespread "Paul Is Dead" hoax, McCartney has been replaced by mysterious double, William Campbell.
December 6 Recording sessions for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band begin.
December 18 The Family Way, starring Hayley Mills, premieres in London. McCartney wrote the incidental music for the film. Paul and Jane attend.
1967
January 13 Jane Asher leaves for America to tour with the Bristol Old Vic Repertory Theatre.
Paul and Ringo attend a high-powered performance by Jimi Hendrix at the Bag 0' Nails club in London.
February 7 In St. John's Wood, McCartney spends the evening with Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees.
March 30 Photographic sessions for the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band are held in the Flood Street studios of Michael Cooper.
April 5 McCartney catches up with Jane Asher in Denver, Colorado, to celebrate her twenty-first birthday.
April 7 Denny Laine's single "Say You Don't Mind" backed by "Ask the People," is released on the Deram label.
May 15 While attending a Georgie Fame performance at the Bag O' Nails, McCartney meets his future wife, photographer Linda Eastman, for the first time.
May 26 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
May Linda Eastman attends a press party at Brian Epstein's Chapel Street flat to celebrate the release of Sgt. Pepper.
June McCartney confirms that he has taken the controversial drug LSD.
June 4 Paul and Jane attend a concert by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Procol Harum, Denny Laine and His Electric String Band, and the Chiffons at the Saville Theatre.
June 21 American televangelist Billy Graham comments that he will pray for Paul following McCartney's revelation that he has experimented with LSD.
August 24 The Beatles attend an introductory lecture by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton.
August 26 Brian Epstein is found dead in his Belgravia townhouse from a suspected drug overdose.
December 25 Paul McCartney and Jane Asher announce their engagement, ending over four years of speculation by the media.
1968
February 10 The Scaffold, a comedy group featuring Paul's brother, Mike McGear, performs at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. Paul and Jane attend.
February 19 Paul and Jane (accompanied by Ringo and Maureen Starr) fly to New Delhi, India, to join John and George for a teachers' training course in Transcendental Meditation at the Maharis-hi's exclusive Rishikesh ashram.
March 26 Paul and Jane return to England, somewhat disillusioned with the Maharishi and his otherworldly philosophy.
May 15 Linda Eastman slips Paul her phone number at a New York press party held to mark the launch of the Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd. They spend the night together at business associate Nat Weiss's Manhattan apartment.
May 21 Paul and Jane dine with singer Andy Williams and later attend his concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
June 7 Paul and Jane attend his brother Mike's marriage to Angela Fishwick. Paul is best man.
June 22-24 McCartney is ensconced in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel with Linda Eastman.
July 20 Jane Asher announces on British television that her seven-month engagement to McCartney is over.
August McCartney hanger-on Francie Schwartz moves into his St. John's Wood home and stays for three weeks.
October 12 In London's Evening Standard Jane Asher discusses her on-again, off-again romance with McCartney publicly for the first time.
October 31 McCartney calls Linda Eastman from London and invites Linda and her seven-year-old daughter, Heather, to move in with him. Days later Linda arrives, alone, in St. John's Wood.
1969
February 12 McCartney's personal corporation, Adagrose Ltd., is formed in London. He will later change the name to McCartney Productions Ltd. (MPL).
March 11 The Apple press office announces McCartney's intention to wed Linda Eastman the following afternoon.
March 12 Paul and Linda are married at the Marylebone Register's Office, London.
March 16 The McCartneys, along with Linda's daughter, Heather, fly to New York for a visit with Linda's family.
March 24 Reporters from Life magazine track down McCartney at his farm in Scotland and quash rumors that the recently reclusive Beatle was actually dead.
May 8 Allen Klein becomes the Beatles' new business manager. Paul, however, is adamantly opposed to the appointment. It is the beginning of a bitter feud between John and Paul that would never be fully resolved.
May 15 The McCartneys vacation on the island of Corfu. Publicists announce that Paul and Linda are expecting a child.
June 14 Peter Asher resigns his position as A&R director of Apple. July Recording sessions for Abbey Road begin.
August 29 Paul and Linda's first child together, Mary Louise, is born in a London nursing home.
September Jim McCartney is hospitalized in Cheshire. Both Mike and Paul visit him frequently.
1970
January 14 McCartney purchases Low Ranadran Farm, adjacent to his own property in Scotland.
April 2 In an interview with the Evening Standard, McCartney hints that the Beatles may soon go their separate ways due to the rapid disintegration of their multi-million-pound Apple empire.
April 9 McCartney appears on a "London Weekend Television" segment performing the hit "Maybe I'm Amazed." April 11 The Daily Mirror reports that Paul McCartney has officially left the Beatles.
April 12 The New Music Express reports that McCartney has purchased the film rights to the popular British cartoon character Rupert the Bear. In 1984, the animated short Rupert and the Frog Song will run as the opening feature for Paul's mega-flop, Give My Regards to Broad Street.
April 17 Paul's solo McCartney album is released in Great Britain.
December 31 McCartney files suit in a London court to permanently dissolve the Beatles' partnership.
1971
February 19 Hearings begin in the London High Court in The Beatles and Company case.
February 26 McCartney personally gives evidence in court. The other three Beatles, however, testify via sworn statement.
March 12 The court appoints a receiver to control the Beatles' collective finances until further notice.
May 12 Mick Jagger marries Bianca Perez Mora Machias in the south of France. Paul and his family fly out from London to attend.
May 21 McCartney's Ram album is released in Great Britain.
August 3 McCartney forms a new group, Wings.
September 13 Stella Nina McCartney is born to Paul and Linda at King's College Hospital, London. December 7 Wings' first album, Wild Life, is released in Great Britain.
1972
February 9 Wings play their first gig, at Nottingham University, thus beginning the first leg of a British college tour.
February 25 "Give Ireland Back to the Irish," Wings' debut single, is banned by the BBC and IBA due to its potentially inflammatory lyrical content.
August 10 Paul and Linda are arrested by police in Goteborg, Sweden, for possession of marijuana. They are fined the Swedish equivalent of £800 and spend several hours locked in a holding cell.
September 20 The McCartneys are charged with possession of marijuana after a raid on their farm in Campbeltown, Scotland, on a tip from one of the locals. Several suspected pot plants are found in the outdoor greenhouse.
1973
March 8 The McCartneys are fined SI00 plus court costs by a Campbeltown judge on their marijuana-growing charge from the previous year.
April John, Ringo, and George terminate their contract with Allen Klein.
April 16 The "James Paul McCartney" special airs on American television.
May 3 Red Rose Speedway is released in Great Britain.
August 9 Prior to Wings' departure for Lagos, Nigeria, to begin recording the Band on the Run album, Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough unexpectedly leave the group.
November 30 Ahh Laine, Denny Laine's first solo LP, is released on the Wizard label.
December 7 Wings' Band on the Run is released in Great Britain.
1974
April 13 Jane Asher gives birth to a baby girl at Middlesex Hospital. Under Ms Asher's instructions, no further details are released to the media.
April 26 McCartney holds auditions at London's Albery Theatre in hopes of finding a new drummer for Wings. In the end, he and Denny Laine settle upon Geoff Britton.
June Jimmy McCulloch replaces the departed Henry McCullough on lead guitar. Wings jet off to Nashville, Tennessee, for recording sessions.
July 24 Denny Laine is quoted in the Evening News as saying that his relationship with Paul McCartney does not require a written contract as it is based solely on trust.
October 5 Mike McCartney's solo McGear album is released by Warner Brothers.
November 20 Wings appears on the popular British TV show "Top of the Pops" to promote their "Junior's Farm" single. Denny Laine's longtime live-in love, Jo Jo, meets Wings at the Odeon Cinema, Lewisham, to attend a performance by her ex-boyfriend, Rod Stewart.
December 21 Paul McCartney and Wings are awarded a platinum disc for over 500,000 British sales of the album Band on the Run.
1975
January 16 Wings arrives in New Orleans to begin recording sessions at Wally Heider Studios for the Venus and Mars album.
March 3 Linda McCartney is charged with possession of marijuana, this time in America.
March 24 Wings parties aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Among the guests are George Harrison, Ryan O'Neal, Karl Maiden, Dean Martin, Rod Stewart, and Cher.
September 9 Wings' first world tour commences with a show at the Gaumont, Southampton.
November 1 Linda's American drug charge is withdrawn.
1976
January Work begins on Wings at the Speed of Sound.
January 5 The Beatles' former road manager and friend Mai Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after an incident in which Evans allegedly pointed a gun at officers responding to a domestic disturbance call.
March 13 Paul's father, James McCartney, dies at his home in Heswall, Cheshire.
May Wings at the Speed of Sound is released.
May 3 In Fort Worth, Texas, Wings Over America tour begins.
May 22 At the Boston Garden for a Wings concert, Paul McCartney and Jimmy McCulloch engage in a major backstage row.
June 23 Wings Over America tour ends.
December Wings Over America, a three-record set culled from the Wings Over America tour, is released.
1977
February 7 Wings enters EMI's Abbey Road Studios to begin sessions for their London Town album.
March 16 Wings Over the World, a film documentary of Wings' 1976 tour, is aired on CBS television.
May Wings sets up shop in the Virgin Islands, recording aboard the luxury yacht Fair Carol, for further work on London Town.
September 8 Jimmy McCulloch leaves Wings.
September 12 Paul and Linda's only son, James Louis McCartney, is born at the Avenue Clinic, London.
November 11 An exhibition of photographs by Linda McCartney opens in Los Angeles.
1978
January 23 Wings puts the finishing touches on their London Town LP.
March 22 Wings holds a press party on a boat on the Thames to promote the release of London Town.
May 6 A Linda McCartney photographic exhibition opens in New York.
June 29 Wings begins sessions for what will be their last album, Back to the Egg, at McCartney's home studio in Campbeltown, Scotland
September 7 The McCartneys throw a party to mark the third annual Buddy Holly Week sponsored by MPL.
October 3 Members of Wings are joined by virtually every major figure in British rock 'n' roll for an all-star session at Abbey Road Studios, laying down two songs together. They call themselves Rockestra.
1979
May 19 Ringo, Paul, and George perform an impromptu concert in the back garden of Eric Clapton's home in Ewehurst, Surrey, on the occasion of Clapton's marriage to George's ex-wife, Pattie.
June 11 A launch party for Back to the Egg is held at Abbey Road Studios.
September 14 Wings joins Buddy Holly's backing group, The Crickets, on stage at Hammersmith Odeon Cinema in celebration of the fourth annual Buddy Holly Week.
September 27 Jimmy McCulloch is found dead in his London apartment of a suspected overdose of narcotics.
October 24 McCartney is honored by the Guinness Book of World Records at a bash at the Les Ambassadeurs Club in London. He is presented with a valuable rhodium disc for being the most successful songwriter in the history of popular music.
November 23 Wings performs a special free concert for pupils of the Liverpool Institute, Paul's alma mater, at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool.
November 24 Wings begins its last-ever tour, playing three nights at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.
December 29 Wings takes part in UNICEF's Concert for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon Cinema.
1980
January 16 McCartney is arrested by customs officials at Narita International Airport in Tokyo when 219 grams of marijuana are found in a toilet bag inside one of his suitcases. He is detained in jail for the next nine days.
January 21 Steve Holly, Laurence Juber, and Denny Laine fly home to England after it becomes clear that the tour can no longer proceed, owing to McCartney's arrest.
January 25 McCartney is released from jail and deported from Japan. He and Linda fly home and cloister themselves on their Sussex farm for the next several days.
February 27 Wings wins a Grammy award for their "Rockestra Theme" from Back to the Egg.
May 9 McCartney receives an Ivor Novello Award at London's Grosvenor House Hotel.
July 7 Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr begin work on Ringo's Stop and Smell the Roses album at Superbear studios in France.
October 31 McCartney once again joins forces with producer George Martin, recording the tune "We All Stand together" at AIR Studios, London.
November 26 Rockshow, a concert film from the Wings Over America Tour of 1976, premieres in New York City.
December 8 John Ono Lennon is murdered as he returns home from a recording session with Yoko. The world mourns.
1981
February 26 Stevie Wonder joins McCartney in Montserrat. They record two tunes together, "Ebony and Ivory" and "What's That You're Doing."
April 8 Paul and Linda attend the gala British premiere of Rockshow at London's Dominion Theatre.
April 27 Ringo Starr marries actress Barbara Bach at Marylebone Register's Office, London. Both the McCartneys and the Harrisons are in attendance. Wings officially disbands.
1982
January 11 The Cooler, a cinematic short featuring Paul, Ringo, and wives, begins shooting in London.
May 29 Mike McCartney marries Rowena Home at St. Barnabas Church, Penny Lane, in Liverpool.
June 23 McCartney tapes a video for the single "Take It Away" at Elstree Street Film Studios.
September 24 The McCartneys attend a reception to mark the opening of a photographic exhibition by Linda McCartney.
November 8 Give My Regards to Broad Street, begins shooting in London.
November 24 An exhibition of Linda McCartney's photographs opens in Paris.
1983
February 10 McCartney is presented with two British Phonographic Industry awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel.
July 23 Paul, Ringo, and George have a few drinks together in a London hotel.
October 4 The McCartneys, along with Michael and La Toya Jackson, begin shooting a promotional video in Los Alamos, California, for "Say, Say, Say."
December 1 George, Ringo, and Paul meet with Yoko Ono at the Dorchester Hotel in London to try to resolve their remaining business differences over their jointly-owned Apple Corp. Ltd.
1984
January 16 The McCartneys are fined $200 each after being arrested for possession of marijuana in Barbados.
January 17 Upon the McCartneys' return to England, customs officials uncover a small amount of marijuana in one of Linda's bags at Heathrow Airport. She is arrested and charged by London police.
January 24 Linda McCartney receives a small fine at Uxbridge Magistrates Court stemming from her most recent drug charge.
October 18 McCartney flies to New York to promote Give My Regards to Broad Street.
October 22 The McCartneys attend the world premiere of Broad Street at New York's Gotham Theater.
November 7 Paul McCartney and Julian Lennon meet for the first time in several years during separate appearances on the American television show "Friday Night Videos."
November 28 McCartney is awarded Freedom of the City honors at the Picton Library in Liverpool. Later that evening he and Linda attend the British premiere of due My Regards to Broad Street at the city's Odeon Cinema.
1985
March 30 Michael Jackson spends a few days with Paul and Linda at their Sussex home.
July 13 McCartney participates in the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium, performing "Let It Be."
August 10 The Northern Songs catalog of classic Beatles tunes is sold to Michael Jackson for a cool $47 million.
October 9 Dan Ackroyd, Chevy Chase, and Paul McCartney shoot a promotional video for the song "Spies Like Us" at Abbey Road studios.
1986
January 27 McCartney accepts an Award of Merit from the American Music Awards at the Hippodrome nightclub. The broadcast is beamed by satellite back to the U.S.
June 20 McCartney plays at the Prince's Trust Birthday Party with Tina Turner, Elton John, and Eric Clapton.
September 1 Press to Play is released.
October 16 Paul and Linda are awarded honors for the bestselling video of 1985 and for their Rupert and the Frog Song short at a party at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.
November 20 While in Munich, Germany, McCartney receives the Personality of the Year Award at the annual Bambi bash.
December 16 Denny Laine declares bankruptcy in a London court.
1987
Paul McCartney's All the Best compilation album is released in the U.K. and goes platinum within three days. The stirring single "Once Upon a Long Ago" enters the top ten.
McCartney goes into the studio with fellow Liverpudlian Elvis Costello. Their collaborative writing/recording efforts result in nine tracks.
February 2 McCartney records at Audio International Studios in London.
February 28 An exhibition of Linda McCartney's photographs opens at the Octagon Gallery in Bath.
March 4 The McCartneys appear in the film Eat the Rich, playing themselves in a cameo role.
1988
Choba B CCCP (Back in the USSR), a new collection of rock classics performed by McCartney, is released in the Soviet Union.
Sussex University awards McCartney an honorary doctorate.
The Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation in Great Britain presents McCartney with the "Silver Clef" award.
McCartney appears in the BBC-TV documentary "The Power of Music."
1989
McCartney participates in a live phone-in with the Russian people courtesy of the BBC World Service.
September 26 The Paul McCartney World Tour kicks off in Oslo, Norway.
1990
March McCartney is presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences during their annual Grammy award ceremonies.
July 29 The Paul McCartney World Tour ends with a sold-out show at Chicago's Soldier Field stadium.
September 4 McCartney appears onstage at the Lone Star Roadhouse in New York City with Linda and members of The Crickets to promote Buddy, a Broadway musical based on the life of Buddy Holly.
November At an auction in Houston, Texas, Paul McCartney's birth certificate, which had been sold by his stepmother, is acquired for $18,000 by an American collector.
1991
A very embarrassing vocal mix of Linda McCartney "singing" backup vocals on "Hey Jude," recorded during Paul's tour, makes the rounds of radio stations throughout America and Britain.
April 3 McCartney and his band of unknowns appear in a special hour-long segment of MTV's "Unplugged," performing acoustic renditions of numerous Beatles and solo McCartney tunes. Paul performs "I Lost My Little Girl," the first song he ever wrote, his first public performance of the song since 1960.
April 30 At a London press conference the McCartneys introduce Linda's new line of strictly beefless burgers.
1992
Linda McCartney's Sixties, a collection of Linda's vintage portraits of rock stars, is published.
June 8 Paul grants an exclusive interview to Time magazine in celebration of turning fifty. "I'm only interested in looking back now, because I have this misbelief about my life," he says. "Did 1 really get here?"
October 24 McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio makes its West Coast premiere at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Paul fails to show up, explaining, "I didn't want it to have to depend on my presence. I wanted it to be able to stand on its own, so I could go on with other things I want to do."
March 12 On their 24th wedding anniversary Paul reveals he and Linda have spent just eleven days apart, separating only during his 1980 incarceration in a Japanese prison for marijuana possession.
February Off the Ground is released, a critically heralded upbeat album that sees McCartney returning to his Beatles roots.
April Paul embarks on an eight-month world tour, which will keep him on the road until Christmas.
May Paul calls an impromptu, five-minute press conference in Los Angeles just two hours before a performance. The mad scramble, full of technical glitches, prompts one reporter to call it a "Beatlesque comedy of errors."
June 15 Paul's first live television concert, Live in the New World, is broadcast on the Westwood One Network from Charlotte, North Carolina.
1994
Paul begins work on a long-awaited Beatles documentary under the working title, The Long and Winding Road
Paul donates a carved wood sculpture to aid Bosnia. McCartney's Peasmarsh neighbor notes, "All he needs to do is put his name on a piece of paper and it will sell."
August Renowned chef Pierre Franey invites Linda McCartney to his Long Island home to prepare a meal from her Linda McCartney's Homestyle Cooking. While The New York Times documents the event, Paul composes on guitar.
1995
Britain's National Historic Trust purchases Paul's Forthlin Road, Allerton home for $50,000 to help rescue it from "commercial exploitation."
June Stella McCartney's graduation fashion show from Central St. Martins School of Art and Design causes a media circus. Her retro-forties lemon silk creations win rave reviews; Hilary Alexander, fashion writer for the Daily Telegraph, calls it "a very strong collection."
November McCartney's Grateful Dead: A Photofilm debuts at the London Film Festival and subsequently is shown worldwide, including the Finland, Brisbane, Krakow, and New York Film Festivals.
November 20 ABC Television airs the first of three installments of The Beatles Anthology, featuring the Fab's reunion single "Free As a Bird." Comments McCartney, "We just pretended John was off on holiday." The shows do not do well in the ratings.
December 8 Linda McCartney is diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoes surgery at London's Princess Grace Hospital to remove the malignancy. "Luckily," says Paul at the time, "we caught it in time." While the McCartneys are at the hospital, thieves ransack the family's St. John's Wood mansion.
1996
January The Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts [LIPA], dubbed "Paul's Fame School," opens its doors to aspiring artists.
June Queen Elizabeth officially opens LIPA. Paul attends with daughter Stell, but strangely, without Linda.
September The Royal Liverpool Harmonic marks the 100th performance of Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio.
October 6 At a 65th birthday bash for Abbey Road Studios, Paul is conspicuously absent. Rumors fly that he is in Los Angeles to support Linda as she undergoes several rounds of risky high-dose chemotherapy treatment. November 23 Linda McCartney's Roadworks is published by Little Brown.
December 17 A year after her cancer surgery, Linda makes her first videotaped public appearance at the PETA awards in Los Angeles.
1997
Paul is busy directing his second photofilm, based on Linda's collection of Beatles photos, and finishing a symphonic work that will debut at the Royal Albert Hal! in late summer.
March 11 Paul gains the title of "Sir" as Queen Elizabeth officially knights him in a brief ceremony at Buckingham Palace. It is reported McCartney was so nervous his hand caught in his pocket when he accepted Her Majesty's congratulations. Linda is still too ill to attend the festivities.
March 22 Bonham's Auction House conducts simultaneous sales in London and Tokyo of Beatles memorabilia, including McCartney's lyrics of "Penny Lane" and his custom-made, gold-plated Hoffner violin bass guitar.
April 11? Paul gives a free, unannounced, twenty-minute concert atop his MPL offices in Soho to promote his upcoming album, Flaming Pie.
April 16 It is reported that Stella McCartney will replace lauded designer Karl Lagerfeld at the vaunted Paris fashion house Cloe. May McCartney is featured for a full week on VH1, the popular American music channel.
June Flaming Pie is released worldwide to considerably mixed reviews.
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