Paul McCartney has no plans to retire after illness


Sir Paul McCartney (Photo: Paul Bachmann for Live4ever)

Sir Paul McCartney (Photo: Paul Bachmann for Live4ever)




A viral infection picked up in Japan last May forced some very rare gig cancellations for Paul McCartney but, during an interview with Rolling Stone, the former Beatles legend says the setback has not made him consider retirement after over a half a century in music.

“I was saying to someone the other day that one of the very first gigs we did – I don’t even think we were The Beatles, it was the Quarrymen – one of the very first times I ever played with John, we did a very early gig at a thing called a co-op hall, and I had a lead solo in one of the songs and I totally froze,” Sir Paul remembers.

“My mum had come, and I really played the crappiest solo ever. I said, ‘That’s it. I’m never going to play lead guitar again’. It was just too nerve-wracking onstage. So for years, I just became rhythm guitar and bass player and played a bit of piano, do a bit of this, that and the other.”

“But nowadays, I play lead guitar, and that’s the thing that draws me forward. I enjoy it. So, yeah, that means the answer to ‘Are you going to retire?’ is ‘When I feel like it’. But that’s not today.”

The start of a North American tour was delayed to give McCartney time to recuperate, and eventually started earlier this month.


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