Beatles legend Paul McCartney recently revealed that he almost called it quits after the legendary band broke up.
Paul McCartney talks about the matter
The rock legend recently admitted that when the group disbanded in 1970, he was uncertain if he would be able to embark on a solo career as he feared it would be pale in comparison.
In a post published on his website on Tuesday, McCartney answered fan-submitted questions about taking risks in his career. He replied:
“The main question I had was whether to keep going after The Beatles because it was a hard act—some might say, an impossible act—to follow.” He continued, “The ingredients in the Beatles were so unique. You had John [Lennon] right there, who could have made any group brilliant. Then you had George [Harrison]’s talent, and Ringo [Starr]’s, and then me.”
The singer further revealed that he is confused after they went their separate ways professionally:
“I didn’t know what to do with myself, and trying something new was really risky.”
He added:
“Then, of course, having [McCartney’s first wife] Linda [McCartney] in Wings, when she was not a ‘musician,’ was a risk too. When the reviews started to come in a lot of them focused on her, asking, ‘What’s she doing in the band?’ And that was hurtful. But I rationalized it by thinking about when we started The Beatles and none of us knew our chords—over time we got better and picked things up.”
McCartney noted that going solo made him feel like he was back at the beginning of his career all over again.
“In the early days of Wings, we decided to go right back to square one, taking a van up the motorway and playing little spontaneous gigs at universities for students, rather than jumping straight in with big live shows,” he explained. “I’d doubled back to almost being nothing—just some guy in the band—and now I was earning my fame again. By the time the mid-70s came around when we were doing a big American tour, that was the vindication of it. We were so tight and had come up together, as it were. The risk paid off.”
