Paul Mccartney All The Best

[Melissa Alvarado]

Neverforget. This is a man who partied with Mick Jagger at the dawn of the 1960s, who met Elvis Presley, who has outlasted 15 British prime ministers and 13 American presidents, a man who has inspired everyone from Pete Townshend to Noel Gallagher, from Paul Weller to Ed Sheeran. McCartney was already famous when JFK was shot, already famous when men landed on the moon. This is a man who has lasted longer than Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Sex Pistols and Oasis, a man who at the age of 78 looks closer to 50.

McCartney is having a busy year, even if he has spent several months cocooned in his East Sussex farm. Current projects include High In The Clouds (an animation project that has been bought by Netflix), a special reissue of Flaming Pie and a 50th anniversary limited-edition release of his first solo album, McCartney.

The grounds of his farm in Sussex has been expanded somewhat since McCartney first bought it, with various ancillary buildings, outhouses, stable blocks and even a rotunda. Jacket by Paul Smith. paulsmith.com. Shirt by Balmain. balmain.com. Jeans by APC. apc.fr

We are very lucky these days in the music business because black artists, who have for so long been the backbone of good music, are recognised as such and consequently able to enjoy well-deserved success.

It was difficult when we first became vegetarian, because in those days it was easy to laugh at vegetarians, but it really makes me happy now to see the fantastic food available all over the world and the cool people who are adopting the lifestyle.

No one writes about the allure of domesticity with as much panache as McCartney. During lockdown his greatest pleasure was hiding away in a corner, putting the finishing touches on a new song. Jacket, shirt, trousers and shoes, all by Stella McCartney. stellamccartney.com

Can you confirm that the reason Lisa Simpson is a vegetarian is because you only agreed to star in The Simpsons if she stopped eating meat in perpetuity?

We were a bit worried that she would be a vegetarian for a week, then Homer would persuade her to eat a hot dog. The producers of the programme assured us that she would remain that way and they kept their word.

I often think of things like this, as there are a million of them. I remember making a guitar with George, going on hitchhiking holidays... I was a big hitchhiking fan, so I would persuade George and John, mainly, to come on holidays. So George and I hitchhiked one time to Wales. We went to Harlech and stayed in a little place there and played a little gig, just me and George. Then me and John went down to Reading, where my uncle had a pub. And we played a little gig there as The Nerk Twins. And then me and John hitchhiked to Paris... So all of these things, all these little things you might do as a kid, but when you start thinking about them in detail...

So fame nowadays is a big ballgame, where all of these issues come into play and I would not like to be trying to get more hits than Beyonc or more than Rihanna. I would not like to be playing that game.

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