Paul McCartney names the “coolest” people he has ever met
Most Beatles fans would go to great lengths to get the chance to meet Paul McCartney. As one of the driving songwriting forces behind the band, the Liverpudlian lyricist penned some of the most beloved compositions of all time, from the hopeful ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ to the remorseful ‘Yesterday’. His work completely changed popular music, earning him millions of record sales, an impressive number of awards, and countless fans in the process.
Many of those fans would love the opportunity to meet McCartney, despite the widely held assumption that you should never meet your heroes. They’d relish the chance to chat with him about his time with The Beatles or simply to thank him for the musical inspiration and innovation he has provided. And although few fans have been lucky enough to turn this dream into reality, those who have have been pleasantly surprised.
McCartney seems to have disproven the idea that you should never meet your heroes. Although he isn’t too keen on signing autographs, telling Reader’s Digest a few years back that he finds this kind of interaction “a bit strange”, McCartney is still more than happy to have more meaningful interactions with fans. “Let’s chat,” he urged, “Let’s exchange stories”.
This approach has left many fans far more satisfied with their interaction after meeting McCartney. Rather than scribbling his name onto a piece of paper before disappearing into the night, the Beatles bassist seems to be more down-to-earth and truly interested in getting to know people on a more personal level. And for those who have been lucky enough to stumble upon the Beatle, he almost certainly takes the title of “coolest person I’ve ever met”.
In line with the warmth and authenticity he has shown in interactions with fans, McCartney once named the coolest person he’s ever met as his wife, Nancy Shevell. “Coolest person I ever met…” he mused while speaking with Adam Buxton in 2020, “My wife. I hope she’s gonna listen to this. She is very cool.”
However, the Beatle did also go on to name an artist he was particularly stunned to meet: Elvis Presley. McCartney described him as “darn cool,” remembering how he met the original rock and roller before the days of Vegas and rhinestone suits. “This was just when he’s sort of in Beverly Hills,” McCartney remembered, “So he was really cool,” though he still clarified that his wife remains the coolest.
The Beatles songwriter also acknowledged how cool it was to meet Bob Dylan, a name who seems to accompany McCartney on every list of the greatest lyricists of all time. The Beatles’ first time meeting Dylan was particularly formative, with the folk songwriter introducing the band to marijuana for the first time. Even beyond how cool it is to get stoned with Bob Dylan, this interaction would push the Beatles’ sound in new directions.
The Beatles’ use of marijuana and, later, LSD, had a huge impact on their changing sound in their later years, pushing them into dreamier, more psychedelic directions. Meeting the folk singer may have been cool in and of itself, but the meeting of McCartney and Dylan had a knock-on effect that would give us some of the coolest music of the era.
Still, neither Presley nor Dylan could quite beat the coolness levels of McCartney’s wife.
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