The musician Paul McCartney “always looked up to”
Paul McCartney has never been shy about honouring his idols. Throughout his career, a recurring theme of names has come up again and again as he bows to the greats, aware that his success might be nowhere near as historic if it weren’t for the influence of the likes of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino and more. They were heroes he found in record stores and on TV shows that moved him to make music, but really, his all-time, ultimate musical encouragement was always standing right next to him.
In December 2024, I saw Paul McCartney play live for the first time. I knew it would be impactful; getting to hear a Beatle perform Beatles songs was bound to be. But I didn’t expect to cry, and I certainly didn’t expect him to cry. By now, McCartney is more than familiar with huge crowds of 20,000 people. He’s more than used to his setlist and his songs – it wasn’t stage fright or awe that got him. However, no matter how much time passes, grief isn’t something you really get used to.
It was during ‘Here Today’ that it hit me, and hit him too. “At least once a tour, that song just gets me,” he said in 2002 about the 1980s track, written as a letter to John Lennon, McCartney’s collaborator, but mostly his best friend, who had recently been murdered. “I’m singing it, and I think I’m OK, and I suddenly realise it’s very emotional, and John was a great mate and a very important man in my life, and I miss him, you know?” he said, with that being the bottom line really. Beyond their fame, Lennon and McCartney were best friends. McCartney cried, I cried, and thousands more people probably cried as well.
In the looming legend of the band, it’s easy to forget about the personal side of things. By now, fans have heard McCartney talk about these years over and over to a point where it’s easy to become numb to the emotion and sweetness in so much of what he says, like in this 1984 interview, where he declared Lennon a deeply inspiring and encouraging force.
Out of every musician McCartney was inspired by, Lennon tops the list every time, and he used to be reminded of that fact night after night when they’d play ‘Kansas City/ Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!’ on tour.
“It requires a great deal of nerve to just jump up and scream like an idiot, you know?” McCartney said about the shyness that would always linger around this track. But Lennon would never let him sink into that as he recalled, “I would often fall a little bit short, not have that little kick, that soul, and it would be John who would go, ‘Come on! You can sing it better than that, man! Come on, come on! Really throw it!”
McCartney’s response always came back the same: “Alright, John, OK.” In the end, he was always inspired and encouraged by his desire to make his friend proud, with Lennon toeing the line between a mate and a hero of his; “He was certainly the one I looked up to, most definitely.”
It’s so beautiful, so emotional and so deeply personal – let’s not forget that. Said in 1984, similar to how McCartney talked about Lennon in the 2000s, and still today on stage, that feeling still clearly remains as the memory of his friend is hero shaped in his heart and mind.
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