Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney considered quitting music after Beatles split

The 80-year-old musician thinks the biggest professional risk he ever took was launching his band Wings with late wife Linda McCartney in the wake of the Hard Day's Night hitmakers going their separate ways in 1970.

Answering a fan question from Twitter about his biggest professional risk, he wrote on his website: "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.

"The ingredients in the Beatles were so unique.

Paul McCartney says John Lennon 'instigated' the Beatles' break-up

The supposed evidence was a press release for his 1970 solo album, McCartney, where he revealed he was on a "break" from rock's biggest band.

Interviewing himself, Sir Paul said he could not "foresee a time when Lennon-McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again".

But in a new BBC interview, he has said the split was prompted by John Lennon.

"I didn't instigate the split. That was our Johnny," he told interviewer John Wilson. "I am not the person who instigated the split.

Frances reveals Paul McCartney's songwriting tips

Nominated for the Brits critics' choice award and the BBC Sound of 2016, the singer has a knack for achingly beautiful ballads that tug at the heartstrings.

Songs like Let It Out and Say It Again have earned her more than 50 million streams on Spotify - and top 10 singles around the world (although not at home, thanks to the current state of the UK singles chart).

Born Sophie Frances Cooke in Berkshire, she was an aspiring violinist when her teacher sent her to see a film composer for career advice.

Paul McCartney: Yoko Ono and I are 'mates'

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Paul McCartney reflects on his career as a member of the Beatles and says he and John Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, are in a good place.

Ono has long been blamed for breaking the band up after she became involved with Lennon. McCartney said the group didn't do well with her constant presence back then.