“Too good”: the musician Paul McCartney pleaded with not to retire
Never give up.
From The Vault Archives: 06/2026
The story of the last great Pink Floyd song in 1979: “Gave me goosebumps”
One last roll of the dice.
The two people The Edge called the fifth and sixth members of U2: “An organic process”
“The final key element…”
The 1976 Led Zeppelin guitar solo Jimmy Page struggled to play: “A bit frightened of it”
The pressure of originality.
The 1970s band Mick Jagger and Keith Richards can’t agree on: “Never took off”
Seeing them front different angles.
The musician Sting thought was on another planet to everybody else: “Totally otherworldly”
“There’s an energy about him that’s just totally otherworldly.”
The 1967 song Pete Townshend thought would take The Who to “eternal glory”
Going past traditional rock and roll.
The 1981 song Phil Collins had to retire from playing live: “I don’t really want to sing this”
Not holding up well over time.
The 1967 song David Bowie called the future of music: “It was serious and dangerous”
The beginning of rock’s new age.
