Throughout his career with The Beatles, Wings and as a solo artist, Paul McCartney has broken many records, and now he adds another to his extensive list. For a man used to making history, even by his lofty standards, his latest accolade is an impressive achievement.
To give a flavour of the rare accolades that McCartney holds, he is one of only three musicians, alongside Phil Collins and Michael Jackson, who have sold 100 million records as a band and as a solo artist. After The Beatles debuted in 1963 with Please Please Me, McCartney and the rest of the Fab Four penned a series of the most commercially successful and culturally significant records of all time, including Sgt. Pepper’s and Abbey Road.
While the historic decade spent with The Beatles would be enough for most artists, when the group acrimoniously split in 1970, McCartney had already embarked on his solo career, including his time fronting Wings, another majorly successful outfit. Without the help of John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, he has continued to assert his relevance, earning 100 million sales of his own records.
For all of his legendary musical and non-musical efforts, it has now been reported that McCartney has become the first billionaire musician the UK has produced, according to the 2024 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List.
Aged 81, McCartney’s wealth has risen by £50m to hit £1 billion. He last reached the top in 2022, when his wealth was estimated to be £865 million. A series of factors have assisted his rise to billionaire, including his Got Back tour in 2023 and prominent American artist Beyoncé covering his White Album masterwork ‘Blackbird’ on her latest album, Cowboy Carter.
Of course, these are not the only elements that have influenced his rise to billionaire. In 2023, The Beatles released a duo of compilations in 1962-1966, The Red Album, and 1967-1970, The Blue Album.
However, the most prominent release to have impressed itself on the Liverpudlian’s fortune is the final track by the group, ‘Now and Then’, which arrived in early November. Effectively bringing the curtain down on the story and discography of the world’s most important band, it featured the vocals of the late Lennon, who was murdered in 1980, and featured guitarist Harrison, who passed away in 2001.
The track was initially a demo that Lennon had recorded shortly before his death. Later, his widow, Yoko Ono, gave it to the surviving three members, who originally attempted to make it into a full-bodied song in 1995 when they created ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ for Anthology. Yet, the group hit a snag regarding Lennon’s vocals, with the demo version he had recorded on tape almost impossible to work with.
However, thanks to Get Back director Peter Jackson’s MAL software, which he developed when working on the hit Disney+ documentary, McCartney, Starr and producer Giles Martin could finally finish the song, bringing all the members together for one last lap around the block. Unsurprisingly, given the significance of such a release, it went to number one in the UK charts, which also will have further lined McCartney’s pockets.
