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January 2003 to April 2003
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Paul was seen back in London January 29 after a month long holiday in Mexico with Heather.
When Sir Paul McCartney made an impromptu visit to the Cavern in 1968 he made the owner promise not to tell the press. But 35 years later these previously unseen photos of Macca have been revealed for the first time.Paul made a surprise visit to the Cavern Club with his then girlfriend Linda Eastman on October 25, 1968.
Pop memorabilia expert Jason Cornthwaite, of Tracks, in Chorley, said, "Paul called alone at approximately noon and asked if he could call back later with Linda as he was on his way to drop off a record player to his stepsister Ruth in Wirral. Alf Geoghegan, owner of the Cavern, asked Paul if he minded if he took some photographs of the occasion. Paul agreed as long as the press were not informed. Alf realized that he did not have a camera with him and he walked around the corner to Photo-Optics, a photographic shop in North John Street and purchased a Yashica Camera to record the occasion. The salesman accompanied Alf back to the Cavern to set the exposure and shutter speed not having been told who was going to be photographed. Paul returned with Linda and when Alf picked up the camera to take the photographs, Linda said, 'I'm a good photographer, I'll take them for you.' She photographed Paul with Debbie Geoghegan, Alf's daughter, with Paddy Delaney, the Cavern doorman and on stage with Curiosity Shop, a group who were managed by Alf who were rehearsing at the club at the time. Paul then joined the group on stage and played the drums saying that he had always wanted to be a drummer. Also in the photographs can be seen Alf Geoghegan and DJ Billy Butler."
Now these photos are going to be auctioned. Cornthwaite said, "The pictures are worth around £150-£200 ($240-$320) each, particularly because we know the history behind them. And never before seen pictures of the Beatles are becoming rarer and rarer."
Stella McCartney's new studio on Goldborne Road is still under construction, but when the building work on the former church is complete, McCartney's Gucci-backed business will be operating in one of London's most vibrant spots- northern Portobello. (story)
AS one of fashion's most prodigious designers, Stella McCartney has long since established her credentials as a major trend-setter. However, to date, Sir Paul's little girl has chosen to confine her more headline grabbing creations to the catwalks. Not so last night. Onlookers in London's Knightsbridge were stunned by Stella's ultra-glamorous appearance as she stepped out with fiancé Alasdhair Willis. From her perfectly-proportioned chignon, to the slit-to-the-thigh black dress, Stella looked every inch the model bride-to-be. But it was her eye-catching shoes that are sure to make the most notable impression on the fashion pack today. The former Chloe designer put her best foot forward in vertiginous heels, (we estimate at least five inches in height), tied together with a low-slung bandage. It seems that bondage-style footwear is here to stay.
Cong, Ireland which has played host to many famous guests in the past, may soon have a celebrity resident. Speculation is mounting that designer Stella McCartney, daughter of Beatles star Paul McCartney, may be set to buy a house in the picturesque village.
Ms. McCartney, who is due to have her wedding in world-famous Ashford Castle later this year, has been spotted in the area a number of times in recent months and is reported to have fallen in love with a property with a lake view.
Local auctioneers have not been contacted by Ms. McCartney, but remain hopeful - and are available to do business. "Obviously we would be delighted to be involved in the sale of a property to such a well-known person and we will certainly be keeping our ears open for any developments in the coming weeks and months," said one source locally.
Already a popular spot for celebrity weddings, the arrival of a superstar on a more regular basis may further boost tourism in the village made famous by "The Quiet Man."
Paul and Heather were reported to be in Mexico on Entertainment Tonight January 23 where they partook in a couples massage and listened to a mariachi band. Paul got onstage and sang "Hey Jude" with the Mexican band.Paul and Heather were vacationing at Esperanza Resort, a 6-star hotel and resort in Mexico located in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Private villas cost between $2,000 and $5,000 per night. Paul received a complementary 3 night accomodation at the hotel inside his Oscar goodie bag that he received last year at the Oscars.
Inventor Roger Field had a bright idea for a folding guitar. "A built-in mechanism kept the string tension from changing when folded and unfolded so it didn't go out of tune," he explains.Munich-based Field tried to sell his idea to Paul McCartney in 1976. McCartney, it seems, was impressed. "When do I get one?" he asked.
Alas, Field could not make a left-handed version and it has taken him years to perfect his invention. An American company is only now considering it.
Field is still inventing, with 85 patents at the last count. His latest is for a film and camera system to improve the quality of 35mm film for the film industry.
Model-turned-actress Jerry Hall and designer Stella McCartney were among an eclectic gathering of celebrities who stepped out in style for London's South Bank Show awards. One of the big winners at the event, which honors achievements in the arts over the past year, was Ms Dynamite, who pipped veteran David Bowie and chart-toppers Coldplay to scoop the best pop act gong.The event, which also featured appearances by actor Dougray Scott and Bond girl Rosamund Pike, will be screened on ITV1 on January 26.
Abbey Road, the classic Beatles album, has seen its cover fall victim to the latest digital photo techniques.Paul McCartney's cigarette has now been removed from posters and other merchandising. It is now feared that the album itself could be updated when it is reissued.
A spokesman for the remaining Beatles said, "It may seem like political correctness gone mad but there is a strong feeling that smoking shouldn't be depicted as cool.
Amanda Sandford, from the anti-smoking group Ash added, "We are happy to support this action. People who see their idols holding cigarettes are more likely to copy them and start smoking themselves."
The cover of Abbey Road has been subject to many rumors and myths over the years. One rumor suggested that Paul McCartney had died and been replaced in the band with a look-a-like, and that his lack of shoes on the cover was evidence of this.
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has criticized former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney for calling off an Australian tour because of the Bali bombings. And the rocker, often described as "elegantly wasted" said he wouldn't let the terrorism threat change him."I say to Osama and the boys bring it on, evaporate me," Richards told The Sunday Telegraph on the eve of the band's Australian tour. "If it gets to the stage where these guys are dictating if we rock or not, then forget about it. If McCartney uses these guys as an excuse, he should give it away. Don't give them the power. I can't wait to tour Australia, even if they take out my plane on the way there."
Cilla Black is to host a star-studded television show headlined by the two remaining Beatles to celebrate her 40 years in showbusiness. The program looks set to be screened on the BBC after the entertainer announced she is to end her long running stint as presenter of ITV's Blind Date.Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are being lined up to join an A-list line up of the 59-year-old's friends including Sir Elton John, Sir Cliff Richard, Bill Wyman and Joan Collins, reports claim. Cilla is long time friends with the former Beatles from the days when they first found fame in the 1960s.
Before emerging as a singer in her own right she worked as a cloakroom attendant in the Cavern during the days when the Fab Four played at the venue.
Last night Geoff Baker, McCartney's spokesman, said, "They are friends and it's possible but I know nothing more than that."The show is believed to be Cilla's revenge on the ITV bosses she is said to feel pushed her off Blind Date. A BBC insider said, "She is hurt. She feels she's been stabbed in the back and is looking to get revenge by denying the ITV suits a show they'd love because of Paul and Ringo. "We've not seen anything like that for more than 30 years, but all ITV will be able to do is watch and wish they had it."
The highest paid woman on television, earning £70,000 ($112,000) a program for Blind Date, Cilla made the shock announcement that she would quit the dating show she has presented for 17 years at the end of the present series during a special live episode last week. She is thought to be upset by the new contract ITV had drawn up for her and felt forced off the show.
It sounds like a plan for drawing hordes of screaming lawyers to your door: create compilation CDs with sampled music from the likes of the Beatles, James Brown and Johnny Cash, not to mention the voice of Dan Rather; include as many songs as possible that have already sparked legal battles; do it all without getting permission from the copyright owners, and distribute the CDs at a nationally touring art exhibition.Oh, and give the music away online for the millions of people around the globe who can't make it to the show.
So far this operation has not sparked even a lawyer's angry voice mail, said Carrie McLaren, curator of the exhibition, "Illegal Art: Freedom of Expression in the Corporate Age," where the potentially inflammatory CD is available free, and of its Web site, illegal-art.org.
"They know it'd be like a minefield," said McLaren, who contends that the music, visual art and video pieces in the installation are protected by the "fair use" provision in copyright law that allows for parody and commentary. The exhibition, she says, takes the potentially illegal and makes it untouchable.
Maybe she should talk with Paul McCartney. McCartney's spokesman, Paul Freundlich, is examining the apparently unauthorized use of the Beatles' song "Tomorrow Never Knows" on the "Illegal Art" track "Psycho of Greed" by the rap group Public Enemy. Both Public Enemy and McLaren are violating the law by distributing copyrighted work without permission, Freundlich said. "The people that are actually doing this exhibit are just as guilty as anybody else who's pirating anybody's artwork," he said.
The leader of Public Enemy, Chuck D, neither acknowledges nor denies that his group sampled the Beatles on "Psycho of Greed," allowing only that parts of his song and "Tomorrow Never Knows" sound strikingly similar. (Int'l Herald Tribune)
LATEST MESSAGE FROM PAUL, January 10, 2003New Year Greetings to all you winter websitees.
We had a blast last year seeing so many of you at the shows and we're hoping to see new faces in new places soon as it's looking like now we''ll be driving further down the road. News on that will be coming up soon, but in the meanwhile here's wishing you all a happy, healthy and lovin' Two Thousand And Free.
Love Paul and Heather
In recent months fur has experienced a revival, hitting its vile peak with the much publicized news that Stella McCartney had seriously scolded Madge for wearing a coat made from aborted lamb fetuses. Surely enough to make anyone yack up?
Stella has always flown the vegetarian flag, refusing to work with leather or fur. This, you may think, makes the production of hot accessories tricky. Not so. Now in her third solo season, McCartney has produced her finest collection yet, including some pretty fabulous animal-friendly accessories. Using fabrics such as canvas for multi-pocketed bags and satin for two-tone stilettos, these pieces have helped convert many in the industry to McCartney fandom.
If you want a space-age look, there are hologram heels, or for the slinkier evening do, elegant pink heels are guaranteed to do the trick.
In other news, her first UK boutique opens in April on Bruton Street in London and a perfume is in the pipeline.
Vegetarianism may have been in and out of fashion, but before Stella it was never quite this glam. So on behalf of all those fashion-conscious vegetarians, who have never been able to find non-leather shoes or bags they actually want, Stella, we salute you. (The Guardian)
Police appear to have recovered about 500 original Beatles tapes that were stolen in the 1970s, including some never-released tracks, during raids Friday on members of a piracy racket in England and the Netherlands. British police said the tapes were "priceless.'' Dutch police, who found the tapes in the Netherlands, agreed, but said analysis of the material was ongoing."We're investigating whether they really are the originals, but it appears to be so,'' prosecutor spokesman Robert Meulenbroek said in Amsterdam. "There are about 500 tapes, so there's quite a bit to research.'' The tapes soon will be turned over to British authorities, he said.
Police arrested five people in raids in England and in Holland, following an investigation that began about a year ago. The suspects' names were not immediately released. The tapes contain songs, including "Get Back,'' for an album the Beatles planned in 1969. The project was shelved, and some of the songs instead became part of the "Let It Be'' album. The rest of the tapes disappeared.
In 1970, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr broke up, disappointing millions of people around the world. That's one reason that for many devoted fans and collectors, the original reel-to-reel tapes would be a valuable recovery by Apple, the Beatles' record company.
"We applaud this exemplary police operation, which reflects the extraordinary level of international coordination that is needed to tackle the sophisticated cross-border strategies of today's organized music pirates,'' said Jay Berman, chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which led the investigation with help from London detectives.
The federation and London police first identified suspects who were thought to have been involved in the theft and handling of the tapes. Further inquiries across Europe led to the joint operation by British and Dutch police. Two British men were arrested in west London, and two Dutch men and a British man were arrested south of Amsterdam, where Dutch and British police were working together.
"This is a good example of how an international multiagency approach by both the private sector and police agencies can combat offenses of this nature,'' Detective Inspector Paul Johnston said in London. The material disappeared shortly after the 1969 Beatles sessions which attempted a more back-to-basics approach to recording after the tensions of the 1968 "White Album.'' They met in the Twickenham area of London to rehearse, rather than Abbey Road, where they usually recorded. Continued problems within the band saw Harrison briefly quit during that period.
The recovered reels are believed to contain dozens of entire songs, as well as snippets of tracks the band attempted, then abandoned. Along with new songs, the Beatles ran through earlier tracks for old time's sake.
"Get Back'' originally was written to satirize negative attitudes toward immigration in Britain in the late 1960s. In early versions, it was referred to as the "Commonwealth Song'' and "No Pakistanis.''
Heather Mills is 26 years younger than her husband Paul McCartney, but she's trying to make herself look even younger.The former model, 34, who married 60-year-old McCartney in a lavish million-dollar wedding last June, is undergoing dermaplaning treatments at a Manhattan plastic surgeon's office, sources told The Enquirer.
"Heather has feared aging since she was a teenager," an insider revealed. "She wants to impress Paul and make sure he keeps his eyes on her even across a room packed with gorgeous young women. Heather feels she's in competition with Paul's fashion designer daughter Stella. She's three years older than Stella and wants to look younger and more glamorous."
The former model's treatments began in September and could take anywhere from a few months to a year to accomplish. They're relatively painless and produce a radiant, blemish-free complexion.
"Heather started treatments with a licensed aesthetician who helped popularize the procedure among celebrities in Beverly Hills," a source said. "In dermaplaning, the top layers of skin are scraped off with a Teflon-coated blade. The process removes dead skin, lessens surface irregularities and stimulates the growth of collagen. The skin looks younger immediately but it requires at least four sessions to show lasting results."
This isn't the first time Heather has resorted to cosmetic surgery. She underwent breast reduction in 1991, and her former husband Alfie Karmal once described her as "completely bonkers" about plastic surgery.
"Meanwhile, Linda McCartney -- who was married to Paul for 30 years -- aged gracefully and wore the years of her life on her face with exceptional self-confidence," said the insider. "These women are as different as night and day."
Dr. Scot Glasberg, a top New York City plastic surgeon who is not treating Heather, told The Enquirer the results of dermaplaning can be very dramatic. "Skin looks healthier. It feels better and wrinkles and areas of damage are reduced. It's basically a rejuvenation of the skin."
Heather Mills has made a fresh bid to end the feud between herself and her stepdaughter, Stella McCartney, by modelling one of the designer's dresses.
Sir Paul McCartney's wife appears in next month's edition of the Red magazine wearing a chiffon dress valued at £555 ($888). It seems the frosty relations between the two may finally be thawing, as the magazine says Heather did the shoot with Stella's "full endorsement."
A spokesman for the 31-year-old designer said she gave her backing to the use of the dress as it was intended to raise money for the Linda McCartney cancer clinic in Liverpool. Asked whether Stella's hostile feelings towards her father's new wife were easing, he said, "Stella never discusses her private life."
Heather has made bridge-building efforts in the past, but Stella is said to have been deeply hurt by criticism of her designs attributed to the model. It was alleged that the 34-year-old anti-landmines campaigner described her creations as "too tarty".
Sir Paul's children are also said to be concerned over Heather's reported intention to have a baby, but the model insists she has no definite plans. "When it comes to having children myself, if it happens that would be great. But if it doesn't, it doesn't," she told the magazine. (Hello Magazine)
"Back in the US Live 2002" notches back up the Billboard Top Internet albums chart from #7 to #5.
Evidence at last that Stella McCartney and Heather Mills have buried the hatchet - Lady McCartney has posed proudly in one of her stepdaughter's designer creations on the eve of Stella's wedding. The image is one we thought we would never see after Heather reportedly angered Stella by wearing another designer's dress for her own wedding to 60-year-old Sir Paul McCartney in Ireland last summer.
Since she began dating the former Beatle after the death of his first wife Linda, ex- model Heather, 34, has always denied a rift between herself and the couple's children - James, Stella and Mary, and Linda's daughter from her first marriage, also named Heather. Now, with Stella's wedding to publisher Alasdhair Willis expected any day, we see the most public evidence yet that any rift has healed.
The pose is part of a feature to celebrate Red magazine's fifth birthday. Asked how her life has altered over the past five years, Heather says, "On one hand I'm very happy and madly in love, but when I met Paul I was told to make no comment. The press thought I was sticking my nose up at them, so they got the knives out. Half of the media are out to destroy everything as if I'm a criminal. A lot gets written about me that isn't true: that Stella left the wedding early when she was one of the last to leave; that I was going to write a vegetarian cookery book, when I'm not. There was a proposal to do a veggie cookery series on TV, but it wasn't appropriate so I offered it to Mary because it was her mum who was into that."
She reveals how down-to-earth the family is. "There's nothing celebrity about Paul's family. They don't live in a grand house with lots of staff, it's a very normal life - cooking dinner and washing up." And she talks about her hopes of having children with Sir Paul. "If it happens that would be great, but if it doesn't, it doesn't. I had two ectopic pregnancies in my twenties so my tubes are pretty damaged, and I've had so many operations that I wouldn't want IVF or anything - sometimes things like that can ruin a relationship. Having nearly lost my life nine years ago (in the motorcycle accident in which she lost a lower leg) I tend to live in the here and now."
Encouraging readers to try to win the dress she is wearing, Heather adds, "It's a gorgeous dress and Stella designed it, and it will also raise money for some great causes. Fifty per cent of the proceeds will go to the Linda McCartney Centre for cancer care and the other 50 per cent to Adopt-A-Minefield which saves lives by raising funds for mine clearance and helps landmine survivors worldwide. (This is London)
For a chance to win the dress - a size 10 worth £555 ($888.00) - and raise cash for Stella and Heather's charities if you are in the UK call 0906 207 1817. Calls cost £1($1.60) per minute and should last no longer than two minutes. Winners will be chosen at random after lines close at midnight on February 14.
Heather Mill's book "A Single Step" made People Magazine's top ten worst non-fiction books of 2002.
Having a famous husband doesn't make her an author; Mills's climb from a not quite Dickensian childhood to the world of catalog modeling isn't exactly can't-put-it-down material. She would have been better off focusing on her recent, more admirable work helping to eradicate land mines rather than her past. Fans of Sir Paul will be sad to hear that he's little more then a footnote.
As the Beatles go, Paul McCartney was always known as the cute one. But maybe we've been selling him short all these years. Maybe he's also the wise one.McCartney's been on a concert tour of the United States and now, at age 60, he's figured out some important things.
"I should be jaded at my age, I should be blase, I should hate the whole thing and have retired years ago," he told The New York Times. "But it's the opposite. I do two and a half hours onstage . . . and this is so satisfying. It's kind of amazing. You get people and their children. You get tears. I saw on our DVD an older gentleman, probably my age, deeply moved by `All My Loving.'"
There's something satisfying about that, and it's more than nostalgia. After all these years as a larger than life rock icon, McCartney's moved into more human-sized territory. He's growing old gracefully--not an easy thing for a rock star.
In recent years, he's had his share of loss. In 1998 his wife Linda died of cancer, the disease that claimed George Harrison last year. Of course, John Lennon has been gone since a crazed fan shot him in 1980. Now Paul's Beatle-cut is modified somewhat, and it's suspiciously dark, but the face is unmistakable. Funny thing: When he's just talking, he looks his age. But on stage, singing, he looks at least a decade younger.
McCartney and Lennon had a bitter, public feud over the breakup of the band and for years McCartney made a point of not singing Beatles songs. Now he's singing them in concert, because, he tells an interviewer, "these songs are my babies."
At his age, McCartney could be doing absolutely nothing. He's got tons of money, a lovely new wife, and nothing left to prove. Instead, he's continued to write and sing, even when the reviews of some of his efforts over the past two decades were caustic.
But now it's a different McCartney. He's more at ease. He's not trying too hard. Unlike another rocker of his generation, Mick Jagger, he's not trying to prove he's still 18.
Now, onstage, McCartney connects with the past. He strums a ukulele and sings a tune as a tribute to Harrison. And more tellingly, after years of resisting public tributes to Lennon, he wrote a song called "Here Today," a ballad mourning the loss of Lennon. "I still remember how it was before," the song goes. "And I am holding back the tears no more . . . I love you."
He admitted to a National Public Radio interviewer that sometimes as he is singing the song, he chokes up. "I'm no longer ashamed of being emotional," he said. "When I was 18, that was like the biggest crime a guy could commit. `You cried?' Well, now it's like, `Yeah and why not?' That's pretty sad stuff, you know, losing a friend like John or losing Linda after all those years, or George. So I'm comfortable with that."
When McCartney compares the Beatles to every other rock band of that era, you can hear the echoes of Lennon's famous comment about the Beatles being more popular than Christ.
"Is it conceited to say we were better than all the other groups? Maybe it is. But listen to songs like 'Eleanor Rigby' and 'Penny Lane'. We were better." (Chicago Tribune)
Paul McCartney places at #18 in "Entertainment Tonight's HOT List" of the top 20 celebrities. "For the past 22 seasons, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT has covered the exciting lives of the world's most glamorous stars of television, film and music," said Linda Bell Blue, executive producer of ET. "As a special treat for our viewers, we're unveiling our first ever list of the top celebrities who've received the most coverage on the show during 2002.
Dhani Harrison said in a recent interview (Le Journal du Dimanche-France), "Paul and Ringo are the nicest persons I know. I love them, they're like my uncles. I see them often, about twice a month. They call to have news from me. I recently started talking with their children, to Zak, Ringo's son, and Stella, Paul's daughter. We understand each other, we know what it's like being Beatles kids."
Sir Paul McCartney has protested to WWF, the wildlife organization, about its active support for chemical tests that cause the death of thousands of animals.The row is over the testing of chemicals in everyday use which are accumulating in human body fat and suspected of being endocrine disrupters, which mimic human and animal hormones causing sex changes, deformities and possibly cancer.
Sir Paul claims the programme is "needlessly torturing and killing millions of animals" and says the organization has strayed off course. But WWF believes that the chemicals must be tested to ensure they are not harmful, "otherwise we are all part of a dangerous global experiment, the result of which we do not know".
Writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Sir Paul says, "I was appalled to learn from Peta that the US office of the WWF has been a driving force behind the design and development of one of the largest animal testing program in international history."
In a letter to Claude Martin, director general of WWF, he says the organisation "has been involved in pressurising the US Congress to require the testing of chemicals for hormone disrupting effects." He says that WWF supports a neurotoxity test "that causes the suffering and deaths of more than 1,300 animals per chemical tested."
WWF in the UK concedes that animal testing "is a difficult issue." It said large numbers of chemicals had been released which had not been tested, and the only way of getting some of them banned was to have them tested. "If there is an alternative we would support it," a spokesperson said.
There is increasing sconcern about manmade chemicals in everyday use, some of which are used to line food cans. Work by the UK environment agency has shown that fish in rivers below sewage works turn female as a result of chemicals in the water.
But chemical companies refuse to withdraw products already on the market unless there is proof that they are causing damage. WWF argues that the only way of checking this is to carry out tests.
In a statement in reply to the McCartney letter WWF said, "Despite utterly inadequate safety assessments, tens of thousands of chemicals are being released into the environment. This results in the exposure of humans and wildlife to unknown risks.Of the 2,600 chemicals used in the highest volumes in the EU, 21% have no safety data." (Guardian UK)
Classic acts such as Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Cher lured more people to concerts in 2002 and helped the industry make a record $2.1 billion in ticket sales, according to figures released Friday.
This was the fourth straight year concert receipts reached record levels in America. There were $1.75 billion in sales in 2001, according to trade publication Pollstar, which tracks the concert industry. In 2001, ticket costs rose and sales declined, Pollstar said. Last year, increased ticket sales helped push concert receipts higher.
"We had some very big marquee names out on tour this year,'' said Pollstar's Gary Bongiovanni. "Paul McCartney has not worked in a long time, and the Rolling Stones only come out every couple of years.''
McCartney had the top-grossing tour, raking in $103 million. Fans paid an average of $130 per ticket to see the former Beatle, who hadn't toured the United States in about a decade.
The Rolling Stones tour placed second, coming in at $88 million, with an average ticket price of $119. Pollstar said it was the first time the Stones hadn't hit the No. 1 spot with their U.S. tour.
Cher's tour - which the singer said would be her last - was in third place, at $74 million, followed by the Billy Joel & Elton John concerts, which grossed $65 million, and the Dave Matthews Band, at $60 million.
Other acts in the top 10 were Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Aerosmith, Creed, Neil Diamond and The Eagles. Creed and the Dave Matthews Band were the only acts in the top 10 that aren't veteran acts - and that represents one of the industry's problems, Bongiovanni said. "The acts that are at the top have got to be reaching the end of their touring life,'' he said. `"Where the next generation of headlining acts is going to come from is anybody's guess.''
Landmines campaigner Heather McCartney has given her backing to a national campaign to honor a group of unsung World War II heroes.Lance Sgt. Thomas O'Donoghue was one of 14 soldiers in the Royal Engineers Fourth Bomb Disposal Company who died making Norfolk's beaches safe, between 1944 and 1953. But no memorial was ever erected in their honor, as Lance Sergeant O'Donoghue's son was shocked to find on a trip to the spot where his father was killed, aged just 32, in 1945.
Tommy O'Donoghue, a 61-year-old retired lorry driver from Formby, has spent the last four months campaigning to have his father and 13 colleagues honored, almost 50 years after the last one died. He believes the men were overlooked because most of them died after peace was declared. He thinks the memories of heroes killed abroad have left little room for tales from the bomb disposal squads who mopped up the mess of the country's inexpertly laid mines.
Now Lady McCartney, wife of Beatles hero Sir Paul and patron of national charity Adopt-a-Minefield, is backing the campaign and calling for a memorial to be erected at Norfolk. She told the Daily Post, "It's important to recognize the people who bravely made Britain safe for future generations whilst risking their lives at the end of the war. These men were heroes. They did vital work and wanted to make a difference. We should use them as role models, an inspiration to us all and they deserve a permanent memorial."
Lance Sgt. O'Donoghue, a soldier from Kirkdale, left a wife and three children when he was fatally wounded on January 17, 1945. He died the day after stepping on a landmine at the sinisterly named "Dead Man's Gap" at Weybourne beach, after climbing over a security fence into a "safe" area marked on a military map as being clear of mines.
Grandfather-of-three Tommy said, "From when we were kids we knew dad died after he stepped on a mine, but my mum never really talked about it, so it wasn't until after she died and we were going through old letters and papers that we decided to go down and find his memorial. We searched everywhere, in all the churches and up and down the coast line, and we were shocked that we couldn't even find a plaque with his name on it."
Mr. Cashford set up a group that is now campaigning to have the Norfolk 14 honored. They are now bidding for lottery funding to erect a memorial, after hearing the Royal Engineers Association may not be able to offer any donation.
The campaign is also being supported by Norfolk MP Norman Lamb, the Mayor of Cromer Keith Johnson, and the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk Sir Timothy Colman, of the Colman's mustard family, who has promised to take up the issue with the Queen, a cousin of his wife's.
Tommy said, "My father died in the line of duty, and the people of Norfolk owe their safety to men like my father. People wouldn't have been able to go back on those beaches if it weren't for those men - and includes the Royal family, who spend a lot of time at Sandringham in Norfolk.
If you would like to make a donation, or have information, call Tommy in the UK at: 01704-810642.
A brave meningitis victim who lost both legs to the disease has been given a message of hope from Heather Mills.The Washington born former model, who is now married to Sir Paul McCartney, made a personal phone call to Joanne Davidson over the Christmas holiday. Joanne, nine, from Blyth, lost her legs below the knees and two fingers on each hand after contracting meningococcal septicaemia in July 1999 when she was six. But the battling youngster refuses to let her disability beat her and she regularly visits hospitals giving support to other young victims, including William Hardy, the little boy Chronicle readers helped to buy new legs for.
After hearing of her courage Heather, who lost a leg when she was hit by a police motorbike in 1993 and has campaigned tirelessly for the provision of better artificial limbs on the NHS, fulfilled a promise and contacted Joanne.
Joanne's grandmother Doris Davidson said, "Heather Mills rang Joanne just before Christmas to speak to her. It was a call out of the blue. She encouraged Joanne and told her not to give up hope and said how well she was doing. Joanne had also been getting blisters from her prosthesis so Heather gave her advice on that and the best type of prosthesis to use. It really was good. Heather gave Joanne lots of encouragement. Joanne has a fantastic outlook on life. She has had to spend most of the last year in a wheelchair because of further operations on her legs. She's a very brave little girl."
Joanne backed the Chronicle campaign to raise cash to buy new legs for four-year-old William Hardy, of Jesmond. Doris added, "When William had meningitis she went into hospital to see him and spoke to his mum. When she is at hospital she often goes in to see anybody who has meningitis."
Joanne's family are trying to raise £15,000 ($24,150) for a pair of real-looking false legs, and have already got £8,000 ($12,880).
Sir Paul McCartney slipped away on Christmas Day for a lone horse ride to honor the memory of late wife Linda. Friends of the pop legend said new bride Heather fully accepted him vanishing for the gallop across his country estate.Macca and horse-loving Linda, who died from breast cancer four years ago, rode out together each Christmas for 30 years. Paul, 60, was with Heather, 34, and her family at his 160-acre farm in Peasmarsh, Sussex.
A friend said, "He ro
de through the fields and woods that Linda loved. Some people might think it odd but Heather knows what he and Linda had was extremely special. She had no problem with her husband taking time out to remember Linda in this emotional way."
Paul and Heather spent New Year's Eve at Paul's house in Liverpool. The couple left for India on January 2. (photo taken at London's Heathrow Airport)
UPDATEHeather Mills and Mike McCartney have both said that there was no wedding and that Stella was on a vacation somewhere. The newspapers are still claiming the wedding will take place soon in Ireland.
Stella McCartney was rumored to marry her boyfriend Alasdhair Willis in a New Year's day ceremony in Ireland which has yet to be confirmed.The fashion designer travelled there earlier this week for what she hopes will be a low-key affair. Her close friends Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow are also expected to attend.
Miss McCartney, 30, is said to have designed her own wedding dress. Her father's new wife has been included among the wedding guests despite Miss McCartney's opposition to their marriage in June. According to friends, she invited Miss Mills because she didn't want a row with her father. Her sisters, Heather and Mary, and brother, James, will also be there.
She announced her engagement to Mr Willis, 31, a former magazine publisher, in July but kept her wedding plans secret. Guests were booked on to the Holyhead ferry at the weekend and told to keep the rest of the week free.
"The guests haven't been told what day the wedding is taking place, but some of them have guessed that it could be on New Year's Day," said a family friend. Just like when Paul married Heather earlier this year, no-one was told where the wedding was taking place until they got there. The travel has all been arranged for Stella's guests, and they don't yet know whether the wedding is happening on New Year's Day or whether it will happen on Saturday the 4th."
The friend said Miss McCartney had "not changed her attitude towards Heather in the slightest."
"But she thought she had better invite Heather because it would have caused such a problem with her dad and she didn't want there to be any unpleasantness on her wedding day. Stella has been very discreet about everything and she has only invited her best friends and her close family. She and the rest of the McCartneys were travelling to Ireland by ferry from Holyhead. I think Stella and Alasdhair thought it was romantic to have the wedding in Ireland, especially as her father's family are from there. One of the places she looked at was Ashford Castle in County Mayo, but she had several venues she was weighing up, and she has been offered the use of various mansions owned by celebrities."
Gwyneth Paltrow is expected to bring her boyfriend, Coldplay star Chris Martin, to the wedding before going on holiday.
The News of the Day (UK) reported that Heather Mills built a recording studio in the new McCartney home in Brighton, Sussex for herself. According to the report a friend of Heather says that the new Mrs. McCartney is, "keen to explore the possibilities of a pop career. She has written her own songs and took control of the studio's design. People will think she's using Paul's success. It's been said before. But she seems to be paying little attention to the criticism."
February 2003
Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney is Britain's highest-earning pop star, with £685 million ($1.1billion) according to the latest report on Britain's wealthiest people, while Olivia and Dhani Harrison - widow and son of the late former Beatle George Harrison - together have a fortune of £118 million ($188 million).
A report shows the combined wealth of the richest 300 people in Britain rose by 5% last year.The Mail on Sunday's Rich Report put the total fortune at £115.4 billion ($184.6 billion) - higher than a year earlier despite stock market woes and a looming war.
Among the richest 20 people, only five saw their worth fall as the combined figure for the report's elite increased by almost £5 billion ($8 billion) during 2002.
The MoS said it had been a vintage year for a number of veteran rock stars, with tours and the release of compilation albums helping the likes of Sting, Paul McCartney and Elton John add earnings of more than £20 million ($32 million).
Sir Paul McCartney tops the Heat magazine "Rich List" with £120 million ($192 million) earned in 2002. The former Beatle bagged his fortune from a hugely successful tour of the US and earned a little extra pocket money - more than £1 million ($160 million) from Gareth Gates's chart-topper "Unchained Melody" as his company owns the publishing rights.
Last year he topped the list as a member of The Beatles, who as a band slip down to number six, with around £17 million ($27.2 million) from back catalog sales.
The Rolling Stones, another act to see the cash pile up from a lucrative US tour were runners up in the "Heat Rich List" with £75 million ($120 million).
Regulars tapping to the beat of the Truckee Hotel's usual Thursday night (Feb 27) jazz duo got a surprise when Paul McCartney took to the small stage for an impromptu song he called "Truckee Blues."
McCartney sang about 10:30 p.m. Thursday after he and wife, Heather Mills, dined incognito at Moody's Bistro and Lounge in the Sierra ski town's historic hotel about 15 miles from Lake Tahoe.
"I almost died. Here he is, 5 feet from you," an excited Carm Lyman said Friday. "There were maybe 30 or 40 people there of all generations, all with their mouths open."
"McCartney played a few songs with Bob Greenwood's Jazz duo," said J.J. Morgan, general manager of the restaurant in the hotel built in the 1870s. "The couple had been vacationing at Lake Tahoe for a few days," he said. "He wanted to listen to some music so we parked him next to the band. He was loving it," Morgan said. "We wanted to make sure they had a private, kind of incognito night, and I think he felt real comfortable," he said.
Morgan, who moved from San Francisco to open the restaurant in the former logging town last summer with his partner Mark Estee of Boston, said McCartney apparently made up the tune "Truckee Blues" on the spot. He said he's a longtime fan of McCartney and the Beatles. "Who isn't?" Morgan said. Lisa Marie Presley dined there once, but McCartney's visit was bigger, he said. "I don't know how much bigger it can get," he said. "Truckee is a small town so word was whipping around."
Greenwood and his drummer Dennis Steele played McCartney's "Baby's Request" before the former Beatle asked him if he knew the old jazz standard called "The Very Thought of You." Greenwood said he didn't so McCartney told him he'd take the stage and sing it. "He walked up on stage unannounced and said, 'If you guys can play the blues, I'll put my own words to it'," Greenwood said. "He created three verses spontaneously. And the hook in the song was the Truckee Blues. That knocked me off my feet. I couldn't believe he could come up with lyrics like that," he said. Greenwood says McCartney came off as a "totally regular guy."
UPDATE:Paul McCartney's publicist, Geoff Baker denies the rumored Apple Rooftop gig for Paul. He said, "It's complete bollocks. If we were going to do something, it wouldn't be something as obvious as that."
RUMOR:
Paul McCartney is reportedly planning to recreate The Beatles final gig on the rooftop of their old London studios. Sir Paul will hit the roof of what was Apple Records at 3 Saville Row in London on an afternoon in early April.
Macca will play a set-list of Beatles songs - all his own compositions - with his backing band. "This is very ambitious but Paul is determined for it to go ahead. The building is no longer owned by Apple but arrangements have been made and it looks all set to go ahead. It will be quite an emotional moment for Paul," an insider said.He will play a 45-minute set that echoes the legendary gig the Fab Four played in 1969. The stunt is to mark the start of Macca's huge UK and European tour, which begins in Sheffield on April 5.
Fans of Sir Paul McCartney have been snapping up tickets for his Irish concert in May.Tickets for the outdoor gig at the RDS in Dublin sold out within an hour and besides Ireland, tickets were purchased by music-lovers across Europe, the US and Japan.
A spokeswoman for Aikens said, "Sales have been phenomenal with all the seating selling out within an hour. There has been huge support from his fans in Northern Ireland and the interesting thing is that this is the first concert that Internet ticket sales have exceeded all other methods."
Michael Caine, Oscar-nominated for "The Quiet American," recalls that even during the Swinging '60s in London, Paul McCartney was pretty much a prude. "Jane Asher, Paul McCartney's girlfriend in real life, played my girlfriend in 'Alfie,' " Caine recalls in the premiere issue of Red Carpet magazine. "We did a scene where we'd been to bed together and she was wearing my shirt in the morning like a night shirt. And they came in and got one of my other shirts, and cut the tail off and put an extra length on. And I said, what for? Paul doesn't want her showing so much leg. He was very prim and proper, Paul." (NY Post)
Sharon Osbourne wife of rocker Ozzy was on Howard Stern February 26 talking about her new talk show from Los Angeles and mentioned that Paul McCartney and Jay Leno showed up for her 'test' show which unfortunately will not be aired.
It's no secret the new Mrs. Paul McCartney, Heather Mills, has not been happy since her marriage because of family feud publicity involving McCartney's children ... which has overshadowed her charity work. Now comes word, via Brit wag Nigel Dempster, that her hubby is whisking her away for a week ... of fishing on the private island of Laxain Iceland. Isn't that special? (Hey, for a mere $4,000 a day you could fish there, too.) Sun-Times
UPDATE:
You say it's your birthday? Paul McCartney performed at a private birthday party for about 150 people in RanchoSanta Fe Saturday night, with proceeds going to a charity for victims of land mines. The command performance was a $1 million birthday present from financier Ralph Whitworth to his wife, who was still walking on air Sunday.
"Paul McCartney walked on stage and I thought somebody was playing a trick on me," said Wendy Whitworth, who celebrated her 50th birthday on February 22 with a little help from her husband, friends and the legendary former Beatle and his current band. "It was sooooo exciting," said Whitworth, an executive producer for CNN's "Larry King Live" and a huge McCartney fan. With a voice still hoarse from excitement she added, "How would you feel? You can't believe it."
Believe it. Managing partner of his $1.7 billion Relational Investors fund, Whitworth hired McCartney for a private, 90-minute concert at a Rancho Santa Fe restaurant turned into a birthday party nightclub for the occasion. Cost: $1 million. It was the first time ever that the former Beatle had performed at a private party, Whitworth said.
McCartney agreed to perform on condition that the money be donated to Adopt-A-Minefield, a group championed by his wife Heather Mills that seeks to clear mines and aid victims, Whitworth said.
And how does one hire McCartney for such a celebration? "I knew him before," Whitworth said. "I just rang him up four, or five, weeks ago and said I had a great win-win idea. I don't think he would have done this just for the money. This was as much for the wonderful cause championed by him and his wife."
Said McCartney in a statement, "Normally, I don't do this sort of gig, but I was chuffed to do it because it was a win-win show." "Ralph gets to be the great husband for organizing the surprise, his wife gets a rocking party, I get to rehearse the band for the tour and, most important, Adopt-A-Minefield gets $1 million," McCartney said.
Whitworth went to great ends to hide the presence of McCartney's entourage in laid-back Rancho Santa Fe, one of the priciest locations in the nation with about 2,500 residents living on huge estates about 15 miles northwest of San Diego. "We even minimized the advance team, limiting the number of people with English accents setting up things," Whitworth said. "Only 20 people knew this was going to happen." So, under deep cover, a Paseo Delicias restaurant was converted into a nightclub.
Larry King and Katie Couric were among the 150 guests who came to Whitworth's ultimate birthday party, unaware that Sir Paul would be performing live and in person.
"He opened with 'Hello-Goodbye' and did 'Yesterday' with the same guitar he used on the Ed Sullivan Show," Ralph Whitworth said. "Later, he gave Wendy a guitar pick."
Paul called Wendy on stage and presented her with 50 roses as the band broke into the Beatles track "Birthday." As the song played, the Whitworths danced at Sir Paul's side.McCartney led his band through 19 songs including "Let It Be," "Yesterday," "Hey Jude," "Back in the USSR," "I Saw Her Standing There," and "We Can Work It Out" in a 90-minute set. Other melodies included "Hey Jude." It was an audience sing-along, as well as "I Saw Her Standing There," Whitworth said.
But now Whitworth has quite a challenge for his wife's next birthday. After all, how do you top a private Paul McCartney concert? "I wanted to do something special for her 50th birthday," Whitworth said. "I'll say I have another 50 years to come up with something else like this."
Animal-loving Paul McCartney rented a house on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe this week (February 23). Spies report that a mover was called in before McCartney's arrival to take away it's leather covered sofas and also the antlers over the fireplace; replacement furniture was brought in from Rubicon Gallery in Tahoe City. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Black market dealers are using the Internet to cash in on Paul McCartney's first UK tour for ten years. Huge demand has sent ticket prices into orbit as fans scramble to see the Beatles legend. Tickets are already changing hands on Internet auction site ebay for up to £1,000 ($1,600) a pair.
Seats for the series of concerts in April at Sheffield, Birmingham, London and Manchester sold out within hours of going on sale. A Liverpool date has been promised but not confirmed.
John James-Chambers, founder president of the Beatles Appreciation Society, said, "It just goes to show you that people will go to extraordinary lengths to see him play. Although he says it won't be his last tour, he is not getting any younger and you always wonder when he will come again. I just hope that he plays a venue in Liverpool that is big enough to allow the people of Liverpool to show their love for him."
The Back in the World tour will find McCartney and his latest band at Manchester's MEN Arena on April 9 and 10 - his first visit to the city for 24 years.
An Men arena spokesman said, "The interest was phenomenal. The general manager said it was the quickest selling concert in the history of the arena. The first date sold out within 20 minutes of going on sale and the second date was sold out within a couple of hours. It just goes to show the strength of his following in the North West."
The 2 1/2-hour retrospective concert will cover Macca's Beatles days as well as solo performances and numbers from Wings. Sir Paul, 60, who recently made a million dollars for charity by performing a private gig for an American financier, said, "I think people are going to like this gig - when I was thinking of what songs to play I just imagined myself as one of the audience and thought, 'What would I want to hear?' "So that means we will be playing some of my Beatles stuff - rather a lot of Beatles stuff, actually - some Wings stuff and some more recent stuff."
Stella McCartney plans to pump raw sewage from her posh £1.3 ($2 million) home in Wychavon Way, Worcestershire, on to her rosebeds as an ecological way of recycling waste.
"The waste will pass from the toilet to a series of reed beds," Mike Hurst, the local planning officer tells Heat magazine. "Although this method is smelly, Stella doesn't have any neighbors, so the only person it will affect is herself."
Paul McCartney has voted "yes" in a poll by the Liverpool Echo to ban the controversial Waterloo Cup where greyhound dogs compete for points by chasing a defenseless rabbit. The live rabbit is later torn apart by the dogs. The Waterloo Cup is an annual event in the city of Altcar near Liverpool. Click here to read Paul's statement.
A Paul McCartney fan received the birthday present her life when her husband hired the musician himself to play at her 50th birthday party for one million dollars (£636,000).Financier Ralph Whitworth invited the former Beatle to play a personal show for his wife Wendy, a TV executive, at a party in San Diego, California.
McCartney accepted the offer on condition that he could donate the fee to Adopt-A-Minefield, the anti-landmines charity backed by him and his wife, Heather Mills McCartney.
This was the first private concert he has ever performed.
Wendy Whitworth, the executive producer of CNN's Larry King Show, and senior vice president of CNN, had no idea of the surprise when she joined 150 family and friends at the party at The Ranch Blues Club.
She was stunned and left in tears of joy when her husband announced at 9pm, "Now we're going to play a bit of rock 'n' roll for Wendy" and McCartney and his band took to the stage.
Wendy, executive producer of CNN's Larry King Live program, broke into tears when her husband announced the surprise guest. She said, "Paul McCartney walked on stage and I thought somebody was playing a trick on me. It was so exciting. How would you feel? You can't believe it." An onlooker from the McCartney crew said, "Wendy Whitworth's jaw hit the floor when Paul took to the stage. "As you can imagine the audience just went wild - the atmosphere was electric." "She was totally gobsmacked (shocked) and reduced to tears by the shock of it all," McCartney's agent said. The gig had been arranged in total secrecy and only her husband was in on the secret.
Afterwards the McCartney said, "Normally I don't do this sort of gig, but I was chuffed to do it because it was a 'win-win' show. Ralph gets to be the great husband for organizing the surprise, his wife gets a rocking party, I get to rehearse the band for the tour, and most important, Adopt-A-Minefield gets one million dollars."
Ralph Whitworth, who runs a $1.7billion (£1billion) investment fund, said, "I wanted to do something special for her 50th birthday. I'll say I have another 50 years to come up with something else like this."
Sir Paul used the evening as a warm-up for his first concert tour of Britain in 10 years, which starts in April and continues through France, Spain, Germany and Scandinavia.
Among the guests were CNN's Larry King and NBC's Katie Couric.
Rocker Sir Paul McCartney hit the right note with his wife by taking her shopping for sexy lingerie. The ex-Beatle swapped songsfor thongs as he shelled out on saucy knickers and bras for Lady Heather Mills-McCartney. Macca, 60, spent hundreds of dollars at the trendy Victoria's Secret boutique in Beverly Hills - and Heather, 35, looked delighted. One onlooker said, "They spent quite a while browsing. Heather picked out some things she really liked." The couple were on a break in California (January) before Sir Paul headed home for the start of his world tour. (The Sun)
Heather Mills will be a guest on the Parkinson show this Saturday, February 22 on BBC1 at 22:20 (10:20pm).
The wife of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney says she is totally "wiped out" by the negative press she has received since the start of their relationship. Heather Mills, a charity fundraiser and former model, told BBC presenter Michael Parkinson that her life had hit its lowest ebb when the media "turned on her" following the start of their relationship.
In a television interview to be broadcast on Saturday, Mills, talking for the first time since the couple's lavish wedding in Ireland in June, said: "It's all just 'She's the bird of Paul McCartney' and it's just knock, knock, knock." "He is a fantastic, fantastic man, but the stuff that comes with it is very hard to deal with."
Mills, who lost her left leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident in 1993, talked frankly about the hardships she has dealt with in her life. "My mother left and my father abused me, then my father went to prison and I think you just slowly get chip, chipped away. In the end you're put down for constantly overcoming that and they come for you more and more. Now I'm at the stage where I feel absolutely wiped out."
The romance between McCartney and Mills blossomed after they met at a charity event four years ago. Mills has campaigned for 10 years to rid the world of land mines, and has her own charity, the Heather Mills Trust, which provides artificial limbs for mine victims. "I think the reason I get so affected now is...you feel powerless, everything I've worked for in my life, tried to do and overcome, it's just all been forgotten," she said.
McCartney, who received a knighthood in 1996, has spoken of how his relationship with Mills helped him overcome the pain of losing his wife, Linda, who died in April 1998 from breast cancer. They had been married for more than 30 years.
Mills denied press reports of a feud between herself and McCartney's children Mary, James and fashion designer Stella. "There's always problems between stepmothers -- think of Cinderella, there's the wicked stepmother...it's just very easy to make up," she said. "I don't think the public are that stupid to believe everything they read." And she also dismissed speculation about a pregnancy. "They said I'd been pregnant, which is really hurtful knowing that I've had cancer of the uterus and two ectopic pregnancies," she said. "The chances of me getting pregnant are about that much," (she held her thumb and a finger close together).MORE:
Heather Mills has spoken candidly about the hurt she feels at being cast as "The Wicked Stepmother" since her marriage to Sir Paul McCartney. The 35-year-old model says stories about her are easy for people to make up, especially after the former Beatle's strong marriage to wife Linda. Heather said, "They'd say, 'There's a 30-year marriage, now how's she going to live up to Linda?' There are always problems with stepmothers - think of Cinderella."
But in an interview with Michael Parkinson, to be shown on BBC1 tonight, Heather has scotched rumors that she and Sir Paul's fashion designer daughter don't get on. Asked if she was wearing a Stella McCartney creation, Heather said, "It's not, but it is a lot of the time. That's why I'm always wearing her clothes, because we don't get on, of course. That's why she was at the wedding and we do charity together."
Heather also blasted rumors after the wedding that she was pregnant. She said, "They said I was pregnant, which is really hurtful knowing that I had cancer of the uterus and two ectopic pregnancies. The chances of me getting pregnant are very slim."
Heather felt poor publicity had hampered her charity work. She said, "I'd been trying to make these limbs that I'm always flashing off available to all amputees with the cosmetic covers. And the manufacturers actually said, 'we can't make them with Heather Mills because she gets such bad press'.
In the interview, she also paid tribute to Paul's late wife Linda. She said, "People don't realize that I have a huge amount of respect for that marriage. She did a great job on him - she trained him up well. And when you've loved, like he has, it's much easier to fall in love because you haven't got so many barriers. She went through much worse. I didn't realize that because I was never a Beatles fan. And I fell in love with him after he had chased me for a while. He's very romantic - that's why I fell in love with him. He said, 'How do I keep somebody like you?' I said, 'Romance, it doesn't have to be anything else'. Romance is like picking up a feather or collecting chestnuts. Or planting a Christmas tree without you knowing and you wake up on Christmas morning and he's planted a tree he's chopped down and put lights on. It's that kind of thoughtfulness, breakfast in bed every morning, no matter how he feels."
Heather admitted she had to be strong to be with a Beatle. She said, "You have to be, because you've got to keep his feet on the ground. He's so adored. If I was a fan, he would never have been attracted to me. That's a complete turn-off."
Even Paul has difficulties with her prosthetic leg. She said, "I've one for rollerblading, one for skiing, one high heel and one for the gym. We went swimming once and I didn't realize my leg would fill up with water. It popped off and I said 'Get my leg, it's flying behind you'. We have some funny moments."
Asked if she felt life had dealt her a bad hand, she replied, "I was lucky that I lost my leg at 25 because I was a very sexually confident woman and now I'm 35. But if I'd not had the relationships before I lost my leg, then I may have been a bit more like 'Oh they might not fancy me'. "A counsellor once said to me, 'Heather you're being far too positive about this. You're disabled,' and I went 'Yes, I'm disabled but I'll get a leg one day' and every day she'd come and try to beat me down because that's the way that they did it. "And in the end she said, 'But men won't find you as attractive as they did before,' and I looked at this woman, who was not very attractive, and I said 'Look, darling, both arms and both legs missing, I'd still be more attractive than you'. "So she slammed her book down and left. That's when I realized I needed to start helping people."
Heather's anti-landmine and charity work for fellow amputees has kept her strong. She said, "When I get to go and see them or when I go to Vietnam or Cambodia that's really rewarding."
And the future? "Carry on with the minefields and try to encourage the nice side of the press to lay off me because it's creating a lot of damage in other areas which they are probably not aware of." (The Mirror)
Sir Paul McCartney has stepped in to save 50 monkeys from an animal testing center in South East Asia.The former Beatle has donated an undisclosed sum, believed to be more than £2,000 ($3,200) to save a colony of macaques monkeys that have been subjected to medical research for more than a decade.
The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection discovered the animals were to be killed if new homes were not found for them. For ten years they had been housed in rusty isolated cages, and many of them were showing signs of madness, including cage-circling and pulling out their own hair.
BUAV officials contacted Sir Paul's long-time friend and 1960s' icon Twiggy Lawson who asked for Sir Paul's help.
Sir Paul, whose late wife Linda was a lifelong animal welfare campaigner, said, "It is my pleasure to support the BUAV in their excellent project to save the lives of primates in Asia. I am happy to be a part of this worthwhile work being done in the name of animal welfare."
BUAV have declined to state how much Sir Paul donated or where the facility is exactly. Campaigns director Wendy Higgins said, "We are extremely grateful to Sir Paul for his generous donation. Most of these animals have been left to rot for up to 10 years and have not seen the outside world."
In 1997, Sir Paul made another substantial donation to BUAV to rehouse more than 100 beagles. The dogs needed new homes after an animal testing company went bankrupt.
Brian Wilson's upcoming "Brian Wilson on Tour" DVD is set to be released March 3 and will feature his induction into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame by Paul McCartney.
Paul McCartney is backing a new credit card from his favorite charity, the Vegetarian Society.The Society, of which he is a patron, has got together with the Co-operative Bank to offer a Standard and a Platinum Visa card which help raise money for the charity. Sir Paul says taking out a Vegetarian Society credit card is "a great way to support my favorite cause".
The Co-operative Bank will pay £5 ($8) to the Vegetarian Society for every new account opened, and donate a further £10 ($16) if the card is used within six months.
The society will then receive 25p (40¢) for every £100 ($160) on transactions and balance transfers to the card.
For details, (if you live in the UK) call 0800 002 006.
Paul McCartney was spotted in a full-length black overcoat, striding along a side road in London's plush St John's Wood, talking on his mobile, and looking rather grumpy. (Guardian)
Forgetful Paul? Paul McCartney was seen dashing into a homewares/gift shop called England At Home in Brighton on Valentine's Day during lunchtime, to buy a last-minute love token for his 35-year-old Geordie missus. "Macca rushed in and bought a Valentine's card and a pair of red and pink pajamas," says an onlooker. "But he was so flustered, he forgot to take the card with him when he left - the shop assistant had to run out after him and hand it over."
Paul McCartney's new CD "Back in the World" is to be released in Europe on March 17 to coincide with the "Driving Europe" tour.
Sources say the double CD will be different from the US version and will include songs from the "Back in the US" tour (second leg without "Freedom"), "Driving Japan" and the "Driving Mexico" tour. New songs are "She's Leaving Home," "Michelle," "Let 'Em In," "Calico Skies (Osaka, Japan),"a different "Hey Jude" (Mexico City) than from the US CD and the addition of "Mother Nature's Son" and "Every Night." The rest of the album will be the same songs from the US CD.
The album will be released in Japan on March 29.
Famous conductor John Wilson is bringing together some of the country's most talented musicians to create the region's first Symphony Orchestra - backed by Sir Paul McCartney.
The Newcastle Gateshead Symphony Orchestra will showcase the cream of classical musicians with backing from some of the greatest names in British music: Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and Sir Thomas Allen as well as Sir Paul.
"It will be the first time in the history of Newcastle that the city has had a symphony orchestra," said Wilson. Wilson has worked with Sir Paul McCartney several times and says that he was delighted to be able to support the project. "Paul has always said that after Liverpool, Newcastle is his favorite city. He says the Beatles always used to love playing here and, with Heather being from the area, I think he feels an even stronger link to the region," said Wilson.The first three concerts are booked at Newcastle's City Hall for October, November and December and The Fleming Children's Trust will be the benefactors.
U.S. Representative John Sweeney (R- NY), Chairman of the Congressional Horse Caucus, and U.S. Representative John Spratt (D-SC) today reintroduced the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act which will ban the trade in horsemeat and live horses for human consumption. An identical version of this bill will soon be introduced in the United States Senate.
"Many horses are hauled to slaughter and killed under inhumane conditions. Some of the horses who are killed for this industry have been stolen or acquired under false pretenses (the families who owned the horses were told they were going to a good home) and other animals may be wild horses illegally sold for their meat. The American people want the cruelty to end and the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act will do that," said Representative Sweeny.
Supporters of the measure include Sir Paul McCartney and horse industry organizations including the New York Racing Association, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and the Breeders' Cup.
Federal legislation and the attention it is receiving are helping to bring this industry out of the shadows it has enjoyed for far too long. "This bill is necessary because of the cruel treatment and dubious practices employed by those engaged in horse slaughter."
Paul was spotted back in London on February 12 as plans get underway to announce the 2003 World tour on Friday.
Classical music icon Boosey & Hawkes has sold its instrument workshops--maker of instruments for orchestras worldwide, and the bass guitar used by Beatle Sir Paul McCartney.A portfolio comprising brands including clarinet maker Buffet Crampon and Besson, manufacturer of tubas, trumpets and trombones for Britain's most famous brass bands, has been sold to a private equity firm. The £33.2million ($53.1 million) sale ends a 17-month takeover saga as rival bidders circled the division, which employs 1,400 people in the UK, Germany, France, the US and India. And it heralds the end of 240-year-old Boosey as an independent firm.
There was plenty of laughter and a few tears at the 14th annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards ceremony at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre February 8th.Major Tour Of The Year winner Paul McCartney accepted his honor via videotape - in which he taunted fellow Brit Mick Jagger. (story)
Paul and Heather were in Cape Town, South Africa for the opening of the Cricket World Cup, February 9.
Heather Mills has fallen victim to a crook who cloned her bank card and went on a spending spree. The wife of Sir Paul McCartney was devastated when she learned someone had copied her card details and used it to buy thousands of pounds worth of goods across France.
Heather, who married the former Beatle last June in Ireland, had no idea someone was using a cloned version of her bank card. Both Heather and Paul - estimated to be worth £700 million ($1.1 billion) - have accounts at Coutts bank, who discovered the fraud. The bank acted when purchases in both the UK and France appeared on her account on the same days at the beginning of this month.
The bank alerted the model and passed on the evidence to the police who are now investigating.
Last night 35-year-old Heather's spokeswoman Anya Noakes said, "Luckily it was discovered before they managed to spend too much. She has been fully reimbursed for the sum that was spent. The police acted very quickly. Heather has no idea how they got hold of her details."
It is not known whether she was targeted because of her healthy bank balance or it was just a coincidence.
Mary McCartney accompanied by her husband Alistair Donald, attended the Sam Taylor Wood Art Dance Show featuring Russian ballet dancer Ivan Putrov at the Infiner Club in Mayfair, London, Tuesday, February 4. Mary wore a revealing black lace dress. (photo)
On February 11, 2003, in honor of Johnny Cash's 71st birthday on February 26, Mercury Nashville/UME will re-release four of the five albums he recorded for the label, each digitally remastered. Cash's 1988 duets album called "Water From The Wells Of Home," features a duet with Paul McCartney on "New Moon Over Jamaica," with harmonies by June Carter and Linda McCartney.
The "Back In The US" live album has sold over 1 million copies and has been certified platinum in the U.S. The DVD of the same name is holds onto the No.2 spot this week in the U.S. Music DVD Chart.
Barbados journalist, Irene Sandiford-Garner recounts her hot pursuit of Paul and Linda back in the 1980's.
"I got a call at 5:30 a.m. some 19-years-ago telling me British pop icon, Paul McCartney, was to appear in the Holetown Magistrate's Court on a marijuana charge. His arrest was not publicized and the court appearance was not supposed to be either. I called photographer, Charles Hackett with the hot scoop. He covered all my feature assignments with me, so it was only natural I would call him to come pick me up so we could go straight to Holetown. I covered the story but, of course, Hackett could not take pictures inside the court and attempts were made to sneak the McCartneys (Paul and Linda) out and into their mini-moke (jeep) away from the photographer. From the moment I saw them hustling into their moke, I screamed, 'Charles they're running!' In seconds Hackett had me in his car and we were speeding behind Paul and Linda McCartney's jeep. 'But Charles, where they going?' I queried, watching his speedometer. 'I don't know but we're following!' he cackled with eyes fixed firmly on the prey in front. We raced the McCartneys right up into Porters' factory yard where Paul stopped the jeep, got out, and put his hands in the air, mocking a prisoner surrendering. With lots of laughs all around we got a full story and endless pictures. Those pictures and that story were subsequently sold to newspapers worldwide, giving Hackett and me an early Christmas.
March 2003
Stella McCartney nearly lost her audience in Los Angeles Tuesday night (March 25) when she said she wanted to talk about war. But people stopped groaning when the designer clarified, "I want to talk about the war against cancer," and went on to recall the battle her mother, Linda, fought against the disease. The audience at Saks Fifth Avenue's benefit for Cedars-Sinai Hospital's research program included Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. (more)
In a rare opportunity to see behind the scenes at Tooting Blood Centre, staff threw open their doors for an open day on Saturday March 15.The centre, in Cranmer Terrace, behind St. George's Hospital, (near London) is one of the largest blood processing centres in Europe, with over 2.2million units of blood passing through it every day. The event gave visitors the opportunity to see what happens to blood after it has been donated, where it is stored and how a bone marrow match is found.
Guest of honor at the event was Heather Mills, aka Mrs. Paul McCartney, who has supported the work of the National Blood Service ever since she suffered extensive injuries in a road accident, resulting in the loss of her left leg below the knee. Lady Mills launched 500 red balloons to mark the beginning of the event.
Paul McCartney, Avril Lavigne and Celine Dion are among the top musicians contributing music to an album benefiting a Canadian charity for child victims of war. Artists are providing exclusive material and relevant tracks for the upcoming "Peace Songs" album.
Proceeds will go to War Child Canada, a Canadian charity dedicated to providing humanitarian support to war-affected children around the world.
Paul McCartney who took time out from his European tour to record a live version of his folk song "Calico Skies" in just one take. "Whatever the politics, whatever the rights and wrongs of war, children are always the innocent victims," McCartney said in a statement. "I am delighted to be able to make this small contribution to a magnificent project. Whatever the politics, or rights and wrongs of war, children are always the innocent victims so I am delighted to make this small contribution to a magnificent project that I hope goes some way to alieviating pain and suffering. "Calico Skies" has a poignant verse about the futility of wars and I hope it's appropriate in the circumstances.""Peace Songs" is a joint initiative between BMG Canada Inc., Sony Music Canada, and War Child Canada. "We are very concerned for the well-being of Iraqi children and all innocent people caught in the crossfire of war," says Dr. Samantha Nutt, Executive Director of War Child Canada. "We are extremely grateful for the support of such talented artists in our efforts to help these vulnerable children and families who are at great risk".
The album is scheduled to be released on April 15. (story)
Stella McCartney is best known for her fashion designs - and for being Paul's daughter. But it is her involvement in the crusade against cancer that brought her recognition Tuesday night.
Before a star crowd that included honorary chairs Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Stella received the "Courage Award" from Saks Fifth Avenue and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The black-tie event at the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel raised $1.5 million for research toward a cure for gynecologic and breast cancers.
Linda McCartney, Stella's mother, lost a two-year battle to breast cancer in 1998. Stella says she's proud to be able to raise money and awareness for the cause. "I feel that losing my mother is a rude awakening to having to look after yourself, and that's the only positive thing that can come from losing her," said McCartney, whose dad performed in Paris on Tuesday.
At 31, she's the youngest recipient of the 7-year-old award, whose previous honorees include Elton John and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas. She may be young, but she's "accomplished," Hanks said. "She's done the work."
McCartney wore a strapless black gown of her own design. She was accompanied by fiancé Alasdhair Willis, 31. She's mum on when they will wed.
Wilson was in a black three-piece ensemble created by McCartney. "It's very original, very fresh, and there's always a bit of a vintage-inspired feel," Wilson said of McCartney's line.
Also on hand was actor Scott Foley. His wife, Jennifer Garner, had to work late on her TV show, Alias. The two recently became national spokespeople for Cedars-Sinai Research for Women's Cancers. He was 15 when he lost his mother to ovarian cancer. "Anything I can do to help a cause that will possibly prevent that from happening to another 15-year-old, I'm there," he said. (USA Today) (photos)
Paul's Russian concert in Red Square will cost the star $3 million. The open-air show will be staged with giant screens and redesigned to match the style of Red Square. A convoy of 20 trucks will deliver McCartney's concert equipment. Tickets will cost $20 to $200 with seating for 8,000 out of 50,000 fans. There are plans to televise the historic concert.
Only 10,000 people in the world were allowed to see Paul McCartney in rehearsal for his "Back in the World Tour" on Wednesday, March 26 at 3pm ET (8pm GMT). Lucky fans entered a drawing to win a digital ticket. The sound check which lasted just under 25 minutes included: "Hello Goodbye," "Birthday," "My Love," "Let 'Em In," "Let It Be" and "Let Me Roll It." The Webcast will be available on demand until 3pm ET/8pm GMT on March 27. To see this before time runs out click here. You will need Windows Media Player.
Paul has done a commericial for BBC Radio 2 that is currently running on TV in the UK. You see him in the studio using wine glasses and other things to make sounds as he sings a Fireman-like "Band On the Run." To see the commercial click here. You will need RealPlayer.
IT'S OFFICIAL !!!- Paul McCartney will end his tour in Liverpool at the 40,000 capacity Kings Dock on June 1st. Paul last played there in June 1990. Announcing the concert, Sir Paul said, "I can't do a world tour without bringing it home."
The show will be the final show on this leg of the tour.
The March 25 "Hello Magazine" (UK) features an interview with Paul and a photo spread.
He says, "I could go on stage and drop my trousers and it would make headlines all over the world. I could do it--believe me, my mind is inventive enough to design huge codpieces to show off under my trousers...! I'm sure people don't expect me to be a hunk anymore, not like they might have done in the '60s. I'm not living my life for other people. I don't think I ever wanted to be the most beautiful thing on the planet."
In France's magical capital city, I joined 15,000 ecstatic Parisians last night for the experience of a lifetime. To be at the anonymous basketball stadium called the Palais Omnisports Bercy was truly special. A privilege.In a mesmerising three-hour show, Sir Paul McCartney showed us why he deserves to be called a living legend.
There were no fewer than 23 Beatles classics throughout an evening of pure wonder.
From the moment he bounded from behind a silhouetted screen - his famous violin-shaped bass guitar in his hand - and launched into Hello, Goodbye, a spell was cast.
And when he launched into "All My Loving" - oh my God, it was the '60s all over again. All of us were in the grip of the closest thing to sheer exhilaration I have ever known.
There were Wings hits. "Jet" and "Let Me Roll It" amply showcased how there is certainly much more to McCartney's astonishing repertoire than the magnificent results of his Fab Four partnership with John Lennon.
And we listened to some of his more recent offerings. His poignant rendition of Your Loving Flame - dedicated to "ma femme Heather" - was especially touching.
But nothing can compare to the sensuous thrill of hearing the Beatles songs - the greatest songs ever written - performed live by the genius who wrote them.
At 60, Macca still has a superb rock and roll voice. And when he temporarily dismissed his top notch four-piece backing band to deliver an acoustic solo session, Paul achieved something close to musical perfection.
"Blackbird," "We Can Work It Out," "Carry That Weight" - one man, one guitar, 15,000 fans in the palms of his hands.
His specially composed tribute to his old friend John Lennon, "Here Today," brought tears to my eyes.
And then, for me, the best part of the night - "Back In The USSR" - simply the greatest track by anyone, ever.
With all this unbeatable material to call upon how could anyone go wrong? But, boy, did Sir Paul make it happen!
"Maybe I'm Amazed" - there was no maybe about it. And this vast auditorium was a complete sell-out.
Dressed in baggy jeans, a red sweatshirt and a black Nehru jacket, he cut a youthful dash, which belied the fact he is just five years from OAP status. When I'm 64 failed to feature in this concert - maybe because it's a little close to home these days.
But, make no mistake, Paul has still got the energy of a man in his prime. Which is exactly what he still is.
His tribute to the late George Harrison took the form of a version of "Something" - sung solo to the accompaniment of George's favourite instrument, the ukulele.
As Paul played, footage of the mop top Beatles arriving in America filled a giant screen behind him.
I looked at it and realized that McCartney is not only a living legend - he is a human slice of history.
This was the first date of the European leg of McCartney's 91-date world tour. Next Paul is off to Barcelona, then Antwerp - and then, hallelujah, he arrives in Britain with two sell-out shows at Sheffield's Hallam Arena.
In Paris this was the most joyous of occasions.
But throughout the day the city was paralysed by a series of anti-war demonstrations. And in mid-concert last night the entire crowd broke into a chorus of John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance."
Paul upon the stage - alone - smiled, nodded his agreement, gave a peace sign and joined in the singing.
It was an electric moment.
But I will not remember this evening for protests against the rape of Iraq. I will remember it for what it was - the best pop concert I have ever seen.
Even if it was just for one night - oh what a lovely way to forget the war. (The Mirror)
PARIS SHOW - early reviewWhen Paul finished the tribute to John Lennon "Here Today" the 15,000 strong Paris audience starting singing "Give Peace A Chance." A very surprised Paul gave a peace sign and joined the audience in singing the song a capella. At the encore he came out waving the French flag which brought thunderous applause and wore the red "no more land mines" T-shirt. "Birthday" and "Calico Skies" were performed. "Freedom" was dropped from the set list. (more)
Sir Paul McCartney showcased the turbo-charged greatest hits show which will soon take the UK by storm as he kicked off his first European tour in a decade.He is touring his biggest package of Beatles hits in a nearly three-hour spectacular which hits Britain in just under a fortnight.
And although he is dipping back across his entire 40-year career, he was acutely aware that the oldies were the biggest hit with the audience as he began the tour in the French capital.
Performing "Getting Better" for the first time ever on French soil he told the 15,000 strong crowd at the Palais Omnisports, "This song was from the Sixties - the decade that gets applause."
The opening show was delayed by half an hour after fans were caught in chaotic traffic jams caused by a peace protest in the city center.
The tour will net millions of pounds for the rock superstar who is already the world's wealthiest music idol.
His series of gigs in the US last year was the most profitable tour of 2002, and he largely kept with the same winning formula.
Beatles hits included "We Can Work It Out," "Fool On The Hill and "Here There And Everywhere," but he also slipped in a few extra tracks which American fans did not hear including the bluesy rocker "Birthday" from the band's "White Album."
The 60-year-old superstar's concert included his tribute to late bandmate John Lennon, "Here Today," which he recorded in 20 years ago but which has never been performed in Europe before now."I don't necessarily have to do the same numbers every night, if I can I'll change it around. But knowing me I do get set in a pattern because I just look to see what goes down well," he said.
Although he loves to perform, McCartney admits that touring is not all glamour and excitement.
"The worst moment is when you're in a hotel somewhere that's not really brilliant, and you're getting a bit bored and you're thinking 'I've got horses at home where I live, and I don't half love going in the woods on them'.
"You know, you think, 'What the hell am I doing here?' But everyone gets that, that's touring.
"But having said that, we try to get it at a good enough level and have enough days off to enjoy it. I don't work like I used to with The Beatles it used to be every day of the year. (photos) (wire image photo gallery) (more photos)
Paul McCartney plans to play the largest concert of his career in May--a show in Rome for half a million people. No date has been set for the free show, but McCartney announced it will take place on the Via Appia, just outside the Colosseum. "It will be the most incredible venue for a gig," McCartney told the London Evening Standard.McCartney also used the Evening Standard interview to express ambivalent feelings about the war in Iraq (news - web sites). "If Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, it's clear what you have to do--you have to be at war with Japan," he said. "But this is a very difficult situation. It's hard to know what anyone should do. I'm just like anyone else--I'm just watching it unfold." McCartney added, "What we're hoping to do is bring joy to the world at this moment--nothing else, I'm not a politician."
Paul McCartney's exclusive "Special Rehearsal Performance with MSN" will now take place at 3 pm ET (8 pm-GMT) on Wednesday, March 26. In order to view this rehearsal you must have a 'digital ticket' chosen by lottery through this link. More information below.
On April 27, Paul McCartney will be honored by the city of Cologne, Germany. He will visit the mayor the morning of the first show and sign the "Golden Book of the City of Cologne."
Check out new photos of Paul and Heather (wearing army camouflage capris pants) in Paris. (link)
McCartney concertgoers don't forget to bring your mobile/cell phone to Paul's "Back in the World" concerts. A special phone number will be posted on the screen before the show that you can call and send a 'text message' to Paul or whoever. If your message is selected it will be shown on the big screen before the concert and at the end of the show. Anyone who sends a text message will be entered into a drawing to win a front row seat upgrade for two! They will also receive a text message from Paul and be entered to win a chance to be a balloon carrier in the pre-show (Moscow).
DETAILS: LET YOU INAudience participation and interplay is a big part of the "BACK IN THE WORLD" tour which kicks off on Tuesday (25th March) in Paris. You can now join in with a mobile phone. It's textual intercourse - but we call it "Let You In."
Anyone in the audience at the gigs with a mobile phone can send a text message to a special number (which will be on screen as the doors open) and we will get as many as we can displayed on the screen by the stage before the show begins, and at the end. You can send a message to Paul, or to a friend - whatever you want!
All messages will be displayed on a special page on the Paul McCartney website. Also all day long you can see if your message appears after the show.
Everyone who sends a text message will automatically be entered into a draw and win the chance to upgrade themselves plus a friend to seats in the front row for that nights show. They'll get a message from Paul and also be entered into a very special prize draw, the prize for which will be to be part of the show at a spectacular event on the tour.
So if you're a text maniac, look for the number and send now!TXT the word PAUL + your message to 85123 + get TXT from Paul & win 4 front row seats at concert! (cost £1 to enter)
The "Back in the World" double CD enters the NME (New Musical Express) UK Album Chart (week of March 23) at #5.
UPDATE
Paul McCartney last night (March 23) dismissed claims that wife Heather is pregnant. It was reported at the weekend that the ex-Beatle was to be a daddy again at 60. Heather, 35, was said to be three months pregnant and it was claimed the couple were spotted leaving a North London childbirth clinic "smiling from ear to ear". But Sir Paul's official spokesman Geoff Baker said, "It's not true. Paul is not going to be a father again for the time being."
Ex-model Heather has said she would love to have children - but her chances are slim because she has suffered cancer of the uterus and two ectopic pregnancies. A spokeswoman for Heather, 35, said, "It would be delightful if it was true but it isn't."
Sir Paul has four children from his previous marriage to Linda, who died in 1998 - James, 26, Stella, 31, Mary, 33, and a step-daughter also called Heather, 39.
EARLIER REPORT
Sir Paul McCartney's wife Heather Mills is three months pregnant, friends told the News of the World last night. They revealed the 35-year-old ex-model had her first ultrasound scan just days ago and was told the baby is healthy. Macca, who will celebrate his 61st birthday in June, is said to be "ecstatic" at the prospect of being a father again.
A fan who saw them outside the Viveka Clinic, a natural childbirth unit in north London, said, "They were smiling from ear to ear. They walked down the street arm-in-arm and were laughing and joking." Heather has publicly discussed losing two babies during her brief first marriage when pregnancies turned out to be ectopic, making it difficult to conceive naturally again. She has also suffered cancer of the uterus. But one pal of the couple said, "They are keeping their fingers crossed everything goes well for the next six months.
"Of course they are going to be worried but things are looking good and they're like any other couple waiting to become parents." The couple, who wed in Ireland in June last year, have told only a few close friends their good news and have kept mum to everyone else.
Pop legend Sir Paul starts a European tour in Paris on Tuesday. The pal added, "He doesn't want to leave Heather on her own and she may fly out with him. They haven't decided, but they don't want to be apart."
The former Beatle, worth £700 milion ($1.1 billion) already has four children from his 30-year marriage to Linda, who died from breast cancer in 1998. They are James 26, Stella, 31, Mary 33, and a 39-year-old stepdaughter, also called Heather. They have often denied finding their father's second marriage hard to accept.
Sir Paul and ex-model Heather, who lost a leg in 1993 when she was hit by a motorbike, have hinted several times that they would like to start a new family. Asked about Heather's pregnancy, Sir Paul's official spokesman Geoff Baker said, "It's news to me."
Heather has often publicly aired her chances of giving birth. "I don't know whether I could have a child because of the ectopics," she has said. "I just say, 'What will be will be'. I adore kids and if it happens it happens." (News of the World)
Music fans will be able to buy CDs of pop and rock concerts almost as soon as the last song has been sung after some of the world's top artists agreed to instant concert recording.Following the lead of US grunge act Pearl Jam, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones are to sign deals to produce instant recordings.
The world's largest live music promoter, Clear Channel Entertainment, said the technology for the instant CDs was still in the "developmental phase", but added, "We are working with artists and songwriters to provide the program at select events in the next 12 months."
New technology allows for a copy of the concert coming straight off the band's mixing desk.
This is then rushed to a section of the venue where a bank of CD burners pump out the new product.
Sony Record Australia's marketing manager Karen Tinman said, "I think these bootleg CDs are great for fans. They can be made a lot cheaper and with a much higher sound quality. I do not think it takes away from official album sales, but only adds to the excitement surrounding an act. It gives fans a chance to relive the show."
Up on stage, his distinctive Hofner violin bass slung over his shoulder, Paul McCartney is singing "Hello Goodbye."People up and down Britain have clamoured for tickets to his upcoming tour, yet here he is performing to an audience of a few dozen. While most bands hire a rehearsal room to hone their set, Macca hired the 10,000-seater London Arena in Docklands. It's so convenient for parking. He just drove his midnight blue Mercedes through the vast loading bay and right up to the stage.
It's been a hard day for a knight, but he's cheerful and looking good at 60, expensively casual in blue T-shirt and tan cords, his chestnut hair sporting just a little grey at the temples.
It may once have been sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. Now the only refreshment on the piano at rehearsal is tea and cookies.
In May, Macca will perform the biggest gig of his career, a free concert for 300,000-plus outside Rome's Colosseum. The night before that he will play for just 300 people inside the ancient building. There was talk of holding the big gig inside, but there were fears it may bring the house down - literally. Instead, the crowd will fan out down the Via Appia.
"I'm really excited,'' says Macca. "Nero will have walked down that street.''
There is also a gig in Red Square, Moscow, for 100,000 people, on May 24. "Back in the USSR" indeed! But before that, he will embark on his first UK tour for 10 years following last year's record-breaking US tour.
Macca's likes to do the 'new-old' songs, like "Getting Better" something he's never done before until this tour.
"We were not touring with The Beatles (at the end) so suddenly you did not do those songs, you just recorded them. There are a few like that. It is actually the first time we will have sung them in the UK and Europe," he says.
"One moment I always like is in my acoustic thing. I do this song that I wrote for John (Lennon) after he died called
Here Today," and that's kind of nice for me because it's very poignant. Not many people know the song but they know it's written for John. I call it an imaginary conversation between me and John."While a lot of Macca's songs are emotional, some Beatles moments can bring back memories.
"I do this song for George and if I look back and see the photos - catch a glimpse of George while I'm singing a song for him - it can be quite emotional. But that's good, I like that. That's an ingredient of this show. You do see a lot of people and their lives are flashing before them, particularly older people. For the kids, it's just the music. They have not got any agenda.''
Paul McCartney is to hold his first ever Moscow concert on May 24 on Red Square. This was announced by Nadezhda Soloveva, the managing director of SAV Entertainment, the company that is organizing the event. According to Soloveva, the concert will form part of McCartney's forthcoming world tour. The tour, which begins on March 25 in Paris and ends in Glasgow on May 30, will take in 19 cities around the world.The Moscow concert will be the only open-air gig besides the show in Rome on the tour. "We are hoping to receive permission from the authorities to use the entire square for the concert," said Soloveva. She also added that a screen is planned to be erected outside Red Square and talks are being held on televising the concert.
Paul's nephew, Josh McCartney, son of Paul's brother Mike, is the leader of a rock band called Trilby. This past weekend, Trilby played a night of "hard rocking" at the Manchester Apollo. Reviewers say their "entertaining tongue in cheek lyrics are matched by the band's seductive stage presence." Drummer, Josh and his band have been dubbed Liverpool's brightest young talent.
Paul was seen a few days ago taking the tube (subway) from St. John's Wood with a companion that could have been his son, James. Someone claims Paul was entering Abbey Road Studios yesterday (March 19), and signed a few autographs for fans just before the Webcast was being broadcast supposedly live from the Docklands.
It is a unique piece of rock 'n' roll history recalling the times of "Yesterday". Sir Paul McCartney's years at the Liverpool Institute for Boys had a profound effect on not only his own future but that of popular music in general. It was on a bus journey to the city centre school that Sir Paul originally teamed up with George Harrison, himself a young pupil at the Institute. The rest, as they say, is musical history.And now the ex-Beatle's old report card, which documents his entire career at Liverpool's oldest grammar school, has been unearthed. It is in the possession of Gabriel Muies, a former parent governor at the "Innie" and a tireless campaigner for its reformation.
The report card, still in perfect conditio
n, details Sir Paul's entry to form 3C at the school in September 1953 after passing his 11-plus at Joseph Williams Primary. Always regarded as the most scholarly of the Beatles, it shows how Sir Paul passed five GCEs (English language, art, advanced art, maths and Spanish) and one A-level in English. But while he may be a dab hand with classic songs, he was not so good with the classics themselves - failing Latin O-level in 1958. History, geography, scripture and German were other failures, so the young bass player may not have been much use during the Beatles' early Hamburg period. However, some biographies about the musician claim that he actually passed German.
The fledgling days of the Beatles are actually briefly referred to at the end of Sir Paul's report card. A section labelled Occupation Taken Up intriguingly states, "Working in Hamburg. One of the Beatles. Pop singers."
Jack Sweeney, Paul's former sixth form tutor between 1958 and 1960, said, "He was clearly a very bright pupil but he had a lot of demands on his time. He would have passed all his subjects if he had not been touring. He was very confident about his own abilities and was a very popular member of his form."
Beatles memorabilia expert, Jason Cornthwaite from the Beatles shop Tracks, said, "When I saw it the figure that came into my mind was £1,500 ($2,355) It's a really nice piece but what a lot of collectors are actually looking for is items that the Beatles owned. If it had Paul's signature on it you could be looking at £3,000 ($4,710)."
Although the Institute closed down in 1985, the ex-Beatle's connection with his old school continues in the form of LIPA, his "Fame" academy based in the old school building. Muies, 64, actually fought the LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) plans, believing it should have been built elsewhere to allow his plans to re-open the school to progress. Now he wants Sir Paul to support his battle for a new high-technology Liverpool Institute.
The Trust which ran the old school still has funds totalling almost £1million ($1.57 million) in the bank and Muies has identified huge numbers of school assets, including statues, paintings and land, which he believes should be used for the benefit of the children of Liverpool.
Muies said, "I've had a few battles with Sir Paul over the years but I've got no grudge against him. LIPA is now up and running and good luck to it. I want to set up a new hi-tech Institute, fully inclusive for the disabled, for the advancement of education in Liverpool, which was the terms of the original Institute. I hope Sir Paul will get involved and help other Liverpool children enjoy the advantages he got. I've had the report card since the school closed and acquired it perfectly legally. Sir Paul can come and have a look at it any time and I'm going to put a copy on a birthday card for him in June."
Muies plans to leave Sir Paul's report card to his own grandchildren.
For a school that produced two members of the most important band the world has ever seen, the Institute motto remains eloquent. "Non Nobis Solum, Sed Toti Mundo Nati" - "Not for ourselves alone but for the whole world were we born."
Paul McCartney did a live video Webchat on MSN Wednesday, March 19 from the Docklands in London where he is rehearsing for his "Back in the World" tour which starts on Tuesday, March 25. The Webcast started out with Paul performing "Back in the USSR." He sat down and answered questions for 30 minutes posed to him from his webmaster (Ant) off camera. The questions were mostly from fans who submitted them via the MSN Web page. Paul announced that on May 24 he will be playing an open-air concert in Moscow's Red Square and will visit St. Petersburg but will not perform there.
"I've long wanted to play in Russia, but for a number of years when the communists were in power, they didn't want me to. I've never even visited Russia as a tourist, so it's exciting for me now to be getting to perform there with a band and finally be singing 'Back in the USSR' and all these other songs for people who, I've got a feeling, might be ready for it."
Paul said that there is a contest in Russia for a lucky fan to be a balloon carrying clown in the pre-show. He also mentioned that if he could go back in time, one of the concerts he would relive was at the Cavern playing with the Beatles the other was playing for the fans in Mexico City in 2002. He said most important thing that he's learned in life is "to be true to yourself and own up and be honest." Paul said the "Back in the World" tour will be staged and musically very much the same as the US tour.
The Webcast is available "on demand" for those who missed it. Click here to see it.
EXCLUSIVE: MACCA WEBCASTPLUS! SEE MCCARTNEY IN RUSSIA & BE PART OF THE SHOW
2. WIN your chance to actually see Paul play live and be a part of the pre-show to 100,000 people on May 24th as he plays his first ever gig in Russia.
Runners Up will also win tickets to selected UK and EUROPEAN dates on the tour. A 37-song live album, "Back In The World," and "Back In The U.S." a 3-hour DVD filmed inside the world tour during its run across the U.S.
Paul McCartney gave lucky Wharfers a sneak preview of his upcoming European tour - when he rehearsed at London Arena.The former Beatle arrived at the Docklands venue on Wednesday, March 12 and spent over a week knocking out hits from his Beatles and Wings heyday. Macca almost raised the roof with his explosive rendition of the Bond theme "Live And Let Die."
Sir Paul told The Wharf, "It's been fabulous rehearsing here in Docklands. I did a warm up show at London Arena some years ago and it's a great building for me to prepare for what I hope will be a really rocking tour."
His wife Heather Mills arrived at the Arena on Monday (March 17) to support her superstar husband.
Sir Paul's Back In The World tour kicks off on March 25. The 30-dater visits London Earls Court at Easter.
His press agent Geoff Baker added, "He's been at the Arena since Wednesday rehearsing for the tour. The London gig will be at Earls Court but we've chosen London Arena for him to rehearse because it replicates the size of the arenas in which he'll be playing."
Sir Paul has been on the road since April 2002 playing to millions of people across 58 cities in a tour which grossed $126million, his most successful gigs since the Beatles.
"I was expecting to be exhausted after all the touring last year but instead I feel exhilarated and very excited to be playing back in Europe after 10 years," Sir Paul told The Wharf. It will be particularly great to bring this show back to the home crowd."
Sir Paul certainly made a good impression during his visit. Jim Brithen, head coach of London Knights ice hockey team told The Wharf, "We were in the Arena and Paul wandered over to us and shook all our hands. He's a true English gentleman. I said he could join us for a practice session but he laughed and said he was too out of shape. He's a huge star and it's really nice that he's stayed so down-to-earth."
Paul McCartney will be one of several artists featured on VH1's All Access show called "Rocks Most Outrageous Busts." The first show airs Saturday, March 29 at 2pm ET.
Sir Paul McCartney is to stage a massive three-hour summer concert at Celtic Park later this year -- the first time the former Beatle will have played in Scotland for 13 years.The show, to take place on May 30, was added to the world tour schedule at McCartney's insistence after he turned down a string of other European venues. In a one-off concert that may well be his last in the country, the 60-year-old will play 40 songs, including 22 Beatles classics. It will be the single biggest set of Beatles songs he has ever performed live.
McCartney is also understood to be looking for a pipe band to perform his number-one hit "Mull Of Kintyre," which he has vowed to play only in Scotland. The anthem, which he wrote at High Park Farm, near Campbeltown, remains one of the biggest-selling singles of all time.
Geoff Baker, McCartney's spokesman, said, "It is at Paul's personal insistence that he is playing Scotland. He was offered other venues in Europe but he told the promoters there was no way he was not going to play Scotland on this tour. This concert is going to be huge. It will also include four songs which have not been performed elsewhere on this tour -- among them two Beatles songs and a song which will not be performed anywhere else except Glasgow.'
McCartney chose the 60,000-capacity Celtic Park over Ibrox, which has a lower capacity and was not felt to be as good a venue for the type of show that is planned. The concert will be one of 33 dates on his European tour and will follow 58 performances in the US, Mexico and Japan.
"So far one million people have seen Paul on his world tour," Baker added. "It is getting bigger all the time. But it is fair to say the Scottish gig is going to be special even by his standards. There will be no other date for Scotland."
The singer last played Scotland in 1990 at Glasgow's SECC but the country was initially missed off the list when he announced his latest European tour dates. Despite the likely excitement that will be caused by McCartney's intention to play Scotland, there were hints that the appearance may be the singer's last north of the Border. A source close to McCartney said, "He will never do a show like this in Scotland again, and you can read what you like into that."
McCartney is currently rehearsing for the European leg of his tour in London, but he told the Sunday Herald, "I expected to feel exhausted but I am actually feeling exhilarated. I am having so much fun playing with this band, playing this show and having a great time with the audience."
When the singer arrives in Scotland he is expected to be accompanied by a crew of 150. The show itself will take a week to prepare, creating work for 300 local people.
Also with McCartney will be his wife, former model Heather Mills -- but it is unlikely the couple will stay at Kintyre, where the ex-Beatle has a home. Although High Park Farm has become synonymous with the musician, he has not been seen on Kintyre since starting a relationship with Mills, whom he married in June last year.
The farm was known to have been loved by his first wife, Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998. It is also the place where McCartney took up vegetarianism, where he fled to rebuild his life following the break-up of the Beatles -- and where he got busted for growing cannabis. As well as "Mull Of Kintyre," the area also provided the inspiration for a number of other successful songs, such as "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "The Long and Winding Road."
MACCA SELL-OUT SMASHES ALL RECORDS!!Sir Paul McCartney made history for the M.E.N. Arena - with the fastest-selling show ever to be staged there. Fans of the former Beatle snapped up all 15,000 tickets in less than half an hour. Phone lines, websites and the Arena box office were all stretched to full capacity as the record-breaking rush kicked off this morning. When the Arena began taking bookings at 9am, 600 people were queuing around the building - with a hard core there for a chilly 18 hours. The concert on April 9 is the first show in Manchester by Sir Paul for 24 years and will feature the biggest collection of Beatles' songs ever played in the UK. M.E.N. Arena box office manager Andy Yates said, "I've never known anything sell out so fast. It's broken all Arena records."
Sir Paul McCartney will play a supershow in Liverpool this summer, the Echo can exclusively reveal. The ex-Beatle is currently looking at several sites in the city to perform in front of thousands of fans. Sir Paul's last big concert in his hometown came 13 years ago when he wowed crowds at the King's Dock and the same location is not being ruled out this time.
This summer's gig will form the centerpiece of a 12-date UK tour to celebrate 40 years since the birth of Beatlemania. Macca has vowed to give his army of fans value for money and will play 36 songs during a three hour performance. He will include 22 Beatles favorites and hits from his time with Wings and also solo material.
A source close to the millionaire singer said, "He'll be playing even more Beatles songs than The Beatles did. Even at the height of Beatlemania in 1963, The Beatles' shows ran for about 30 minutes during which they did less than a dozen songs. Paul will be doubling that number of Beatles songs in a show that will last for three hours. It will be the biggest Beatles show that Britain will have ever seen. Paul doesn't want to tour Britain without performing in his hometown and so he is planning a spectacular event for Liverpool"
Since his 1990 King's Dock show Macca has performed just twice in Liverpool when he made an historic return to The Cavern four years ago and last year starred at the George Harrison memorial concert. He has been on the road since April last year during which time he has played 50 shows in the America, Mexico and Japan. His tour, performed with a new four-man band, has been a critical and financial winner having made $126 million in the USA alone. Sir Paul's spokesman, Geoff Baker, today told the Echo he could not make any comment as an official announcement would be made shortly.
Sir Paul McCartney released his live DVD and CD 'Back In The World - and last night dotmusic got a sneak preview.
Macca held a pre-release screening at a secret London location Tuesday, March 11 to kick-start the European leg of the tour that opens in Paris on March 25.
During the drinks reception Paul and Heather Mills greeted guests that included Beatles producer Sir George Martin, his touring band and members of the European media, before the invitees moved to the cinema to see the film.
The two-hour 'rock n' road' movie captures the tour from the perspective of Sir Paul, his band and the extended family of crew that made the US leg of the show such a success.
There's a chance to witness the stage show first hand and you can't argue with the setlist that's a non-stop hit parade of Beatles, Wings and solo McCartney material. Highlights of the performance the supersonic 'Jet', the (literally) explosive 'Live And Let Die' and the acoustic interlude that included 'Blackbird' and 'We Can Work It Out'.
As well as the show, the cameras follow Sir Paul around while he's soundchecking, travelling between gigs, enjoying a day off and meeting fans.
The release is a fascinating purchase for any Beatles fan and wets the appetite for the UK dates that are now only a month away.
Sir Paul McCartney had to beg for a dollar when he realized he had no change for a parking meter. The ex-Beatle had parked to go shopping with wife Heather in Beverly Hills (February) when he found he had no coins. So he dashed into the nearest shop and asked for a dollar in cash.
Hair salon boss Scott Bronson happily leant him the money. Scott said, "All he had were $100 bills."
Honest Sir Paul returned 90 minutes later to give him a dollar back. But Scott said, "I told him to keep the money in exchange for him posing for a photograph with me, which he did."
Heather Mills McCartney, received an humanitarian award in Valencia, Spain on Saturday, March 8 for her social and personal merits. The ex-model and amputee was chosen because she has overcome obstacles in everyday life with force and tenacity. The award was given on a symbolic day in Spain--celebrating the working woman.
For nearly two decades Timothy White, 47, has earned his living as one of the most sought-after of all celebrity photographers. He's shot cover art for albums by Shania Twain, Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, and Aretha Franklin. He's filled a book with his portraits of musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, and film stars such as Julia Roberts and Harrison Ford.
White tried for four days in Chicago to get a photo of Paul McCartney at roadside for the cover of Rolling Stone."It was 1989 (December) and because it was after John Lennon's death security became so tight," White said. "Getting a shot of Paul McCartney on a public street was not an easy thing to do. But I talked him into it."
McCartney just couldn't find the time to do it while performing in Chicago. Finally, on his way to the airport and with White and his assistants following in a car, McCartney's security stopped on the roadway and told him he'd have to board the plane with the artist and get the shot in Canada.
"But I couldn't take anything with me," White said. "So I got back in my car and told my assistants to meet me in Boston, where I was supposed to shoot Billy Joel later in the week [for another Rolling Stone cover]. I started filling my pockets with film and filters. ... I ran up the stairway to Paul McCartney's private plane and there we were. Me, Paul, and Linda McCartney. For two hours. We had dinner on the plane. It was personal. It was relaxed. It was amazing."
The next morning, White had his roadside photo on a highway ramp in Toronto.
"People were passing and freaking out," White said. "But I got it. I got the shot."
White is still called upon by major publications to photograph the stars, but he has turned his attention to advertising for film, television, and major record companies.
Stella McCartney is a quintessentially British designer, but on Monday, March 10 she paid homage to her adoptive Paris with tailored coats and feminine corsets inspired by the great tradition of French haute couture.London scenesters including Marianne Faithfull, Kate Moss and her boyfriend Jefferson Hack gathered at an Art Deco pavilion opposite the Eiffel Tower for the display on the fifth day of the Paris autumn-winter ready-to-wear collections.
If the front row represented Cool Britannia, the clothes were inspired by the City of Light.
A wine-colored wool belted trenchcoat with batwing sleeves flared out into deep folds that recalled the New Look launched by Christian Dior after World War II, when the end of rationing meant designers could once more use reams of fabric.
Meanwhile, a beige high-collared swingcoat was trimmed with pink grosgrain ribbon, a favorite technique of Jacques Fath.
The same ribbon trim appeared on a dove gray satin bustier layered with panels of frayed chiffon and paired with a heather wool pencil skirt with a pleated split in the back.
McCartney knows her technique inside out, thanks to a rigorous training on Savile Row, the London area famous for hand-tailored suits. She carried through that expertise to intricate knitwear, which included a polo-neck woven from ribbed panels structured like the sections of a corset.
Even a cropped burgundy bomber jacket in padded nylon and mesh was dressed up with a champagne silk skirt.
The daughter of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has built her reputation on sleek outfits with a rock chick edge, first at the French house of Chloe and now with her own label, which belongs to the Italian luxury group Gucci.
Fans like Hollywood stars Liv Tyler and Kate Hudson will be snapping up the satin evening dresses embroidered with rows of see-through crystals, or the hot pink satin bustier with its matching skintight pencil skirt.
"There were some pieces in there that really took my breath away. The pieces with the jewels I thought were really daring and fun," British actress Thandie Newton told Reuters.
Newton, who starred alongside Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible II," said it was her first time at a fashion show, but she rapidly grasped how the industry ticks.
"I can see her personality in the clothes because I know her. That's really key as well. I think designers have to have amazing charisma because they use that," she said.
"People want their clothes to reveal something about their personality so you buy the designer whose personality you identify with or admire, and you want some of that."
And with that, Newton neatly summed up McCartney's appeal. (photos)
The fighting spirit of little Alice Skinner - who was born with no kidneys - has touched the heart of Heather Mills McCartney.The former model from Washington is helping Alice's family raise money for the specialist children's renal unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, where she has been treated since she was two days old.
Alice's rare condition affects only one baby in a million born in the UK. She has been close to death many times during her short life after her kidneys failed to develop in the womb and her body slowly poisoned itself.
She has surprised experts - surviving to celebrate her second birthday last week - thanks to dialysis which does not usually work for children.
Heather Mills McCartney has organized tickets to see her husband Sir Paul McCartney during his forthcoming European tour - at a venue of their choice - which will be auctioned for the Alice Skinner Appeal next month.
Alice's parents George, 33, and Nicola, 32, from Templeton Close, Hartlepool, who have already raised £5,000 ($8,000) for the RVI, are overwhelmed by the gesture. George said, "We are really touched that Heather should help out like this. The tickets will be fantastic to auction off and I'm sure lots of people would like to get their hands on them. Alice's story has really touched people's hearts and we have been stunned by their generosity. We're hoping to raise several thousand pounds from the auction. The staff at the RVI have been fantastic, it's thanks to them that we still have our little girl so we just want to give something back."
Heather Mills McCartney, who has also donated a copy of her autobiography "A Single Step," which she and her husband have both signed, heard about Alice through family friend Geoff Newton, who recently met the Skinners. Newton said, "Anyone who hears about Alice would want to do something to help and Heather was pleased to do this for her. Hopefully there will be lots of people bidding for the tickets and they will help the Skinners' fantastic fundraising efforts."
The auction will take place at the Grand Hotel, Hartlepool, on April 26. As well as the Paul McCartney tickets people will be able to bid for limited edition House of Commons whisky donated by Gordon Brown and a fireplace and surround worth £1,600 ($2,560), donated by the Fire Place Group and Heating Centre. There will also be signed memorabilia from Arsenal, Celtic, George Best, Manchester United, Newcastle United, England and Newcastle Falcons.
Alice is doing well on dialysis and she is currently on the transplant waiting list for a kidney but the family had a set back last week when tests showed her bladder wouldn't be strong enough to endure a transplant. That could mean the youngster will have to endure 10 hours a day on dialysis until she is six-years-old.
Speaking from the family home in Hartlepool, George said, "To look at her you wouldn't know there was anything wrong, she's such a fighter and so cheeky," said George, who works part-time for Bernard Povey Carpets Ltd., in Hartlepool. "I keep having flashbacks to those early days when we almost lost her and still can't believe she pulled through."
Anyone wishing to bid for the Paul McCartney tickets or other items at the charity auction can contact George in the UK at (07732) 167 527 or (01429) 260 239.
While Paul McCartney's European tour is selling out as soon as tickets become available, one man who definitely won't be going is former Frankie Goes To Hollywood guitarist Brian "Nasher" Nash.
He's certainly no fan and one track on his new album is a direct attack on the former Beatle whom he calls a "Nowhere Man." The lyrics proclaim: "He gets on my nerves more than Cilla Black and Tarby, and Boardman Stanley."
Now Nasher is hoping to play the song, called "Doing The Mania Again," at a Liverpool homecoming gig with his new band at the Picket in May. He said, "I won't be going to see Macca's concerts. I don't know why he carries on. If I was him I'd pack in. He's just offering cabaret on a massive scale."
PC John Blake, circled, joins The Beatles outside the Hippodrome. Forty years ago this quintet took their policemen's helmets off for The Beatles.Now the Evening Mail is to turn the clock back for the five bobbies pictured with the Fab Four in this famous photograph snapped outside the Birmingham Hippodrome.
John Blake hoped to get his photograph of that night signed when Sir Paul McCartne
y is back in town next month, but we have been able to arrange something better.
Not only has Sir Paul agreed to sign his snap, we have arranged for the pair to be reunited before his first gig in the city in 13 years.
The star's press agent, Geoff Baker said, "Hats off to the Mail for hooking these guys and Macca up again we'll cop for a meeting backstage." Blake, who still has the helmet Sir Paul donned that night back in 1963, was "over the moon" when we broke the news to him today.
The 76-year-old from Small Heath said, "It'll be so great to see Paul again after all this time to relive our memories. We had such a laugh together. I'll take my helmet, it's a bit tatty, but I'd be more than happy for Paul to keep it. I'm so excited, I'll have go and buy some new clothes."
Sir Paul appears for two sell-out gigs at the NIA (National Indoor Arena) on April 13 and 14.
Paul McCartney made the top of a rich list compiled by "People" magazine after receiving £65million ($104 million) from album sales and tour receipts and another £55million ($88 million) earned from publishing royalties - a total of $192 million (£120 million).
Sir Paul's total fortune was estimated at more than $1billion (£620million) by "People." He also came top of a recent rich list of UK performers in "Heat magazine."
Million-seller "Driving Rain," his last studio album, was released in November 2001 and he went on a 53-date US tour. Tickets for the gigs cost an average of $130 (£81), and he released a 35-track live album that has sold more than one million copies in the US.
His 2003 looks set to be equally busy, with a European tour and a £60 ($96) Beatles DVD featuring rare footage of McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr playing together in 1994 set to be popular among fans.
A host of stars turned out for one of UK's most prestigious prize-giving ceremonies. But on this occasion it wasn't the celebrities who were getting the applause, but the ordinary people of Britain.
Paul McCartney, Helena Christensen and Ms. Dynamite were amongst the big names who came along to offer their congratulations to winners at the annual Pride Of Britain Awards. The ceremony aims to give recognition to outstanding achievement and bravery by members of the public.
Ms. Dynamite was close to tears as she presented the young achiever award to Sarah Bennet, a young artist who has fought her way back from drug addiction and sleeping rough on the streets to become a successful musician.
Paul McCartney was emotional as he presented the "Linda McCartney Award For Animal Welfare" to Celia Hammond 62, a former '60s supermodel who gave up her career to help end the suffering of stray and abandoned animals. McCartney said attending the ceremony at London's Hilton Hotel was like walking down memory lane. The awards ceremony was where the former Beatle first met his wife Heather Mills.The former Beatle also sang Happy Birthday to ten-year-old Ben Housson, who was left partially deaf and blind after a holiday accident.The couple were among more than 100 stars attending the ceremony, which pays homage to those who have carried out acts of courage, compassion and achievement.
The show, hosted by Mirror columnist Carol Vorderman, will be screened on ITV1 Wednesday, March 5 at 8pm.
Paul was seen walking out of a shop by himself in Saville Row. Stunned shoppers got a greeting from Sir Paul as he went on his way.
Stella McCartney is to receive an honorary degree from the University of Dundee.Miss McCartney, 30, will receive the honor at a graduation ceremony for design students in London in July.
The top designer with the Gucci group will attend the ceremony at the city's Estorick Gallery and be awarded an LLD by Chancellor Sir James Black.
The daughter of former Beatle Paul McCartney worked with Christian Lacroix on his first couture collection at the age of 15.
Miss McCartney later studied fashion design at London's St Martin's College of Art and Design.
She made the front pages of the national press with a graduation show that included friends Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss on the catwalk - and her proud parents watching from the front row.
Sir Paul McCartney is planning to be his own secret warm-up act for his first UK tour in a decade.The music legend says he wants his musical alter ego The Fireman to be the support before he takes the stage for his own two and a half hour show.
Sir Paul has for many years denied he actually is The Fireman, the name under which he has released two underground chill-out albums with top producer Youth.
The former Beatle said, "What we were thinking of doing is a prelude, a pre-show thing, so that you come in and the atmosphere is a bit like a club.
"Maybe we're going to use The Fireman, some Fireman music. I thought of getting Youth and the Fireman to do some special mixes, and then it'll grow in intensity."
Sir Paul first recorded as The Fireman for the Strawberries, Oceans, Ships, Forests album he issued in 1993.
The name is thought to come from the track Penny Lane which includes the line "And then the Fireman rushes in" - indeed the band's second album was called Rushes.
Sir Paul's dad James was a voluntary firefighter. And the musician performed a benefit show in New York shortly after the September 11 attacks to benefit families of firefighters who were killed.
The millionaire star is playing the UK in April on his Back In The World tour, during which he will perform 22 Beatles songs.
NOTE: The pre-show with the Fireman's "Auraveda Remix" (a remixed outtake from the "Rushes" album) playing in the background opened the 2002 show with circus and costumed performers. Part of the above PR release was taken from the 2002 US tour program.
April 2003
About 800 bold-face names who turned out Monday (April 28) evening for a $3,500-a-ticket benefit gala opening party at the Metropolitan Museum's new Costume Institute exhibit, "Goddess."Designing rock spawn Stella McCartney was giggling while holding hands with new best friend Kate Hudson for most of the evening.
These events must bring out the gal pal in McCartney: The Scoop recalls that a few years ago at another Costume Institute gala, McCartney was similarly hand-holding with Liv Tyler. And she was holding hands with Gwyneth Paltrow another year.
McCartney, who is no fan of the media, rolled her eyes and seemed to growl at the photographers, but Hudson was patient with fans and autograph hounds who begged her to sign "Almost Famous" CDs and videos. At first she begged off. "This is just not the right time," she pleaded with them, but ultimately smiled and gave in.
Gucci designer Tom Ford disapproved of McCartney's décolleté. "I am sooooo not having this!" he said as he stared at McCartney's strapless bustier and tried to pull it up a tad. He was being playful - we think. (MSNBC) (photo)
Dancing and prancing through the main streets of New Orleans, hundreds of paraders sent off one of the city's most influential musicians, Earl King, with a colorful "jazz funeral" Wednesday afternoon. King -- a songwriter, guitarist and singer born Earl Silas Johnson -- died at age 69 on April 17 of complications from diabetes.Rock royalty including Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton sent their condolences.
Sir Paul McCartney, the wealthiest musician in Britain, has spoken out to explain why his daughter thinks he's stingy.Fashion designer Stella recently gave an interview in which she spoke of her embarrassment at being sent to a normal school. "I didn't really go around thinking 'what great benefits there are for me in going to a comprehensive,'" she admitted. The 31-year-old also said that being the richest kid in the playground was difficult and referred to her father as "tight". (see story)
Sir Paul insists that he didn't want her to be spoiled, however, "Apparently she was talking about me sending them to a council school instead of a posh one," he said. "But it wasn't my decision. It was a mum and dad decision and Stella hasn't done badly by it. "Tight, no I'm really not that tight."
"I remember on her 18th birthday she wanted a car so I said I'd look at a second-hand one," revealed the former Beatle, who is worth £760 million ($1.2 billion). "Ringo had a right go at me. He said, 'Buy her a Porsche, Go on buy her one', but I said 'no' because how many other kids have a Porsche? The truth of it is, I didn't want to spoil my kids because if you've got money, you end up with spoilt brats running around." (Hello UK)
(listen to the interview here)
It was reported that Paul traveled to Cologne, Germany without wife, Heather Mills. Heather had work committments. On Sunday April 27 in Cologne, he met with art gallery owner, Wolfgang Suttner, the man who brought his paintings to Siegen.
Kate Hudson and Stella McCartney were spotted last week buying thousands of dollars of vintage couture at Resurrection on Mott and Prince streets (NY) before their pal Liv Tyler's wedding in California. (NY Post)
Victoria Beckham admitted she uses the paparazzi to her own advantage, Anthea Turner was reduced to tears and Heather Mills appeared bemused that marrying Sir Paul McCartney transformed her from charity heroine to Cruella De Vil.The three women were speaking candidly for a new TV program which examines the downside of being a celebrity. Along with a lifestyle the rest of us can only dream about, stardom brings with it the less desirable attentions of the media.
And the twist is that they pour out their hearts to a man who has contributed to their woes. Piers Morgan, editor of the Daily Mirror, is the show's presenter.
The aim of the program is to examine how their portrayal in the tabloids has affected those featured.The program is called "Tabloid Tales" and premieres on April 29 on BBC 1 TV.
Morgan says that persuading the six to take part in the program was not easy. "Anthea Turner really had nothing to lose," says Morgan. "But Heather Mills was pretty difficult to persuade, Mandelson was difficult and so was Victoria Beckham, as she didn't need to do it."
"She (Heather Mills) was interesting because, like Paul Burrell, she had been a quite heroic figure in the public psyche for a long time," says Morgan. "Heather Mills was this model who lost her leg and did a lot of work for landmines and then, once she met Paul McCartney, she became Cruella De Vil, the devil incarnate.
"Trying to work out why that was, other than we just didn't like Paul McCartney being with her, is weird. She's certainly been very upset by what's happened." Morgan says that Mills is "bemused" by her experiences.
"She doesn't quite understand how she comes across," he says. "On Parkinson, she described the year she married Paul McCartney as the worst year of her life and I put it to her that she had to understand what that sounds like to a single mother with three kids on a council estate in Liverpool. The fact that a few front page headlines could make that the worst year of your life is ridiculous. I told her she should lighten up."
Morgan claims that Mills is totally unconcerned by personal criticism. "It's clear that she's not bothered by all the crap about her and Paul's daughters," he says. "What really bothers her are stories that lead to a problem with her image or her reputation, like the charity stuff. She then sees that her ability to raise money for charity, especially in America, gets damaged, and feels really bitter."One imagines there are quite a few celebrities that would like to see Morgan endure a period of disillusionment and failure as well. Whether they would be inclined to ride to his rescue is quite another matter. (Edinburgh News)
Sir Paul McCartney is set to scrap his only Scottish gig, leaving tens of thousands of fans disappointed. The ex-Beatle announced the planned gig at Celtic's Parkhead stadium last month, and a fortnight ago he told an interviewer it was one of the concerts he most looked forward to on his European tour. But a concert at Sheffield's Hallam Arena on April 6, which had to be cancelled at the last minute because McCartney lost his voice due to a cold, has been rescheduled for May 29 -- the day before the planned Glasgow show.
Promoters are trying to see if it might be possible to play the Scottish gig -- McCartney's first here in 13 years -- but admit it is unlikely. With rumors that it could the 60-year-old's final tour, the last chance to see McCartney live in Scotland might have been lost.
"Paul is really frustrated by all of this. We are trying desperately hard to sort it out but it looks very doubtful we can do both shows," said spokesman Geoff Baker. Tickets for the Sheffield show have obviously been sold. We cannot get the stage from different parts of Britain in the time -- it is not like putting up an inflatable tent. The other problem is that after June 1 (the date of a planned concert in Liverpool) half the stage crew are committed to other tours. Paul was, and is, looking forward to the Scottish gig. That is why he is so hacked off. But it isn't looking good."
Doubts about the gig surfaced earlier this month after the promoters and Celtic said it remained unconfirmed, despite it being listed in McCartney's tour schedule . Thousands of fans have inquired about tickets . McCartney was planning an emotional triangle: Dublin on May 27 -- he is of Irish descent -- Glasgow three days later and a tour finale in Liverpool, his birthplace, on June 1.
Last month McCartney, whose last Scottish gig was at the SECC in 1990, said he had told promoters that he would not do a world tour without playing in Scotland. He had been looking for a pipe band to perform a song that 'would not be performed elsewhere', believed to be his 1977 Wings hit "Mull of Kintyre." (Sunday Herald)
It could be hello Stella McCartney, and goodbye Sir Paul, at one of Liverpool's most famous Beatles attractions.Cavern Walks shopping development is at the center of a debate over whether it should loosen its Fab Four links to forge a new image as Liverpool's fashion center. The attraction in the heart of the Cavern Quarter in Mathew Street celebrated its 19th anniversary at the weekend and continues to attract thousands of Beatles fans every year.
But question marks have been raised over whether it is appropriate that designer boutiques should sit alongside outlets selling Beatles memorabilia.
Warner Estate Holdings, which bought Cavern Walks from Moorfields a year ago, is now faced with a major dilemma: if it wants to reinvent itself as a high fashion retail destination should it be designer Stella McCartney that is the main attraction rather than her musician father Sir Paul?
At present, shops such as Cricket and Drome - frequented by the likes of supermodel Sophie Dahl for their four-figure Stella McCartney and Chloe labels - share the precinct with stalls selling Beatles T-shirts for £10 ($15).
Richard Morris, the scheme's managing agent and an associate in the Liverpool office of Insignia Richard Ellis, told a leading property magazine many retailers would like to get rid of the Beatles link as Japanese tourists are not interested in the shops in Cavern Walks. He told Property Week, "Although Cavern Walks has always been associated with the Beatles many of the retailers would like to do away with the connection immediately as all you get is Japanese tourists taking pictures, and they don't go into any of the shops."
However, Warner's property director, Richard Moore, told the Daily Post the company has no intention of disassociating Cavern Walks from the Beatles but wants to build on its profile. He said, "We are not going to disassociate the retail center from its heritage under any circumstances. When we bought Cavern Walks in December 2001 we had e-mails from Australia, the US and Canada, all from Beatles fans who were desperate for reassurance that we wouldn't destroy the Cavern. Don't destroy history - it's as simple as that. We are very proud of the Cavern's heritage, the place has a real buzz that comes from the surrounding pubs and Beatles memorabilia."
Moore explained that he would not want to replace Sir Paul McCartney's presence with his daughter but would love to have them side-by-side.
The manager of Liverpool city center, Paul Rice, said he believes fashion and history can co-exist. "There is plenty of room for both to exist side-by-side. The Cavern Quarter will always be synonymous with the Beatles as it is a symbol of Liverpool's heritage." (Daily Post UK)
They are the brightest and the best; role models for the worlds of business and politics. They are young, successful, self-made, with a life outside their careers and they are female.Britain's most powerful women under 35 have been named and their lives reveal two surprising elements. The 35 businesswomen and executives, to be named by Management Today, are as committed to raising children, climbing mountains or charity fundraising as they are to negotiating boardroom deals.
But they share a second characteristic that betrays a less positive side of being a woman in business. The majority are entrepreneurs, and the reason, say business experts, is that female middle managers, frustrated by their lack of promotion options, are being forced to set up on their own.
Women on the list include fashion designer Stella McCartney.
Stella McCartney, 31 The daughter of Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney rapidly rose to prominence after completing her degree at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design and being snapped up by French couture house Chloé. She quickly became known for her bohemian-chic feminine styling and refusal to use animal products. Now her name is one of the biggest in fashion, as immediately recognisable as Yves St Laurent or Armani. Backed by Gucci, she quit Chloé in 2001 to start her own label and opened her first boutique in New York last year, followed by a shop in Mayfair in March. She recently told off her friend Madonna for wearing an astrakhan fur.All were selected by a panel of experts including head-hunters, think tanks, bankers and academics. The Independent)
Former Beatle Paul McCartney's personal fortune grew by $75 million last year to a staggering worth of $1.2 billion, according to the annual wealthiest-Britons list published in London today by the Sunday Times. It confirmed his long-held status as the richest musician in Britain, but left some wondering why McCartney still chases further big paydays with a hectic touring and performance schedule. Now, his daughter, Stella, reveals a side of her father that could provide the answer.To his millions of fans around the world, Sir Paul McCartney is the Prince Charming of rock 'n' roll, forever polite, eternally kind, immensely generous, and, of course, hugely talented - the mega-rich composer and performer of some of the most famous songs of the past half-century.
But his fashion-designer daughter, Stella, 30, has now hinted - perhaps affectionately - that her 60-year-old Liverpudlian father may have a slightly darker side when he is out of the public gaze.
In a magazine interview, she called him "a tight bastard" - partly for sending her to a local public school where she stood out because of his fame and wealth.
Can this be true? Surely, the most famous and richest surviving member of The Beatles could never be described as stingy. Surely, the rock star whose toothy grin and cheeky smile are trademarks around the globe would never deny anyone he loved, particularly his children, anything that they wanted.
Of course not. But Stella appears to have lifted the lid on something many in the music world have long suspected.
The exceedingly wealthy McCartney, who is the 29th richest person in Britain on the latest wealth list, has always preferred to live a distinctly low-key style. Not for him the wild excesses of rock superstardom, the private jets, the endless supply of limousines, the bevy of personal assistants, the vast mansions around the world.
McCartney has always been the odd man out in rock's aristocracy, a performer very conscious of the financial bottom line; a composer keen to ensure that he never misses out on his entitled royalties; a rock star who is also an entrepreneur, and a careful one at that. He is the paradox of an extraordinarily wealthy man who lives a very ordinary life.
McCartney's beady eye for never wasting a penny is legendary in the music business - and it is just as famous at home.
No one knows that better than his four children - stepdaughter Heather, 35, and his own three children, Mary, 33, Stella, 30, and James, 25 - who were born in public hospitals, went to public schools and, as kids, wore clothes bought on sale.
The reason, according to McCartney, was to keep them "grounded," to protect them from the Hollywood-style upbringing that wrecked the lives of so many show-business children.
He's reported to have told them that he had to work hard for his money - "and it never did me any harm."
There are no trust funds set up for the McCartney kids, because their father decided giving them some kind of nest egg might be a "disincentive" to their carving out a name for themselves in their chosen careers - as Stella has done in fashion and James in the legal world.
"Take care of the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves," has long been a McCartney motto, friends say, along with "waste not, want not." Why else would he still be wearing an overcoat bought almost 30 years before, as he did in 1997, when he donned the very same knee-length brown coat for a video recording that he'd worn in the film for the song "Let It Be"?
As one friend put it at the time: "Everyone knows that Paul hates throwing stuff out. It's a perfectly good coat, and he loves it."
It is the same thought process that often sees him take the train to his office in London's Soho rather than rely on a chauffeur and a limousine and the same attitude of mind that often sees him fly economy class.
Ever the cost-conscious businessman, McCartney also employs musicians who work with him for a salary rather than a share in the royalties or profits of his records or shows.
That's possibly why his current world tour is likely to make him substantially richer by the time next year's wealthiest-Britons list is compiled.
Before his marriage to former model and now anti-landmine activist Heather Mills, 34, last June, McCartney played no less than 27 shows in 20 cities across the United States, grossing an extraordinary $54 million. And he was back on stage again in America for the second part of the tour immediately after their honeymoon. Not that everything about his second marriage was entirely smooth sailing for the careful rock star. McCartney's children were wary of his relationship with Mills, which began a little over a year after the death of his wife, Linda, from breast cancer at the age of 56 in 1998.
In particular, they were said to suspect that she was a "gold digger" and that the 26-year age gap between the couple was too great.
Stella reportedly tried to persuade her father to draw up a prenuptial agreement that would limit her future stepmother's share of his fortune to just $31 million should they divorce.
Surprisingly for a man with such a clear head for money, however, it appears that McCartney steadfastly refused.
Others who are close to McCartney say he can be generous if he believes in a charitable cause.
When he was offered $1 million to play at the 50th birthday party for the wife of American financier Ralph Whitworth in February, he accepted, but asked for his fee to be paid to the anti-landmine charity Adopt-A-Landmine, backed by his wife, Heather.
In the past year, he's made similar donations of performances or recording tracks to raise money for children in Iraq as well as firefighters in New York.
"The thing to remember about Paul," said one record-company executive who's worked with him for more than a decade, "is that he's not very starry, and he's not very flashy. But he is very conscious of his own image, just as he was conscious of the image of The Beatles. He was the p.r. man in the band."
The last thing that McCartney would like the world to think of him was that he was in any way "tight" with his money, friends say. Careful? Certainly. Business-like? Without question. Yet he is always ready to take an entrepreneurial gamble that may benefit him.
And isn't that the way that rich people stay rich and get richer? (NY Post)
Paul McCartney may be responsible for "The most valuable G4 PowerBook in the world." The device - signed by Sir Paul McCartney - is being auctioned to raise funds for a kidney dialysis ward for children in the North East of England.The Apple Macintosh PowerBook G4 was signed in Los Angeles last October, and donated to the the Alice Skinner Appeal by Paul and Heather McCartney. The celebrity couple agreed to auction the item to help raise money for the appeal. As well as Sir Paul's signature, the PowerBook carries a £10,000 ($15,800) reserve price.
George Skinner, father of two-year old Alice, a little girl who has been on kidney dialysis since birth in 2001, explained, "My little girl was born with no kidneys and has been on dialysis since she was born. Paul and Heather agreed to help us. We are trying to gather 250,000 to finance a kidney dialysis ward for kids, as there isn't a dedicated ward for children suffering from this in the North East"
"We have raised £7,000 ($110,000) in six months and hope to raise more through this auction," he explained. Most of the money raised through the auction for the PowerBook will be donated to the Alice Skinner Appeal, while some will go to the McCartney's chosen charity, the Adopt-A-Minefield Campaign.
Sir Paul McCartney has seen his fortune rise to £760m ($1.2 billion) in the last 12 months, according to a new rich list. The former Beatle came top of a Sunday Times entertainment industry list, worth almost twice as much as his nearest rival.Theatre impresario Lord Lloyd-Webber was second with £400m ($632 million)and fellow West End mogul Sir Cameron Mackintosh third with £335m ($529 million).
Big rises were enjoyed by singer Tom Jones, who now has an estimated £150m ($237 million), Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller, with £90m ($142 million), and the Osbourne family, who are worth £85m ($134 million).
Sir Paul's fortune means he now ranks as the UK's 29th most wealthy person overall, according to the list, which will be published on Sunday.
UK'S TOP 10 POP RICH LIST
1) Sir Paul McCartney - £760m ($1.2 billion), 2) Lord Lloyd-Webber - £400m ($632 million), 3) Sir Cameron Mackintosh - £335m ($529 million), 4) Madonna £227m ($358 million), 5) Robert Stigwood - £199m ($314 million), 6) Sir Mick Jagger - £175m ($276 million), 7) Sir Elton John - £170m ($268 million), 8) Sting - £165m ($260 million, 9) Tom Jones and Keith Richards - £150m ($237 million)
Tickets for McCartney's US leg of the tour cost an average of $130 (£81), and he released a 35-track live album that sold more than one million copies in the US. He also continues to earn money from his back catalog, publishing royalties from rights he owns, including the Buddy Holly catalog, and Beatles material.
A new Beatles DVD, costing about £40 ($63), features footage of McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr jamming in 1994, and has been a big-seller. But Harrison's family have seen his estate's value decline from £140m ($221 million) in 2002 to £110m ($173 million). (BBC News)
It's been confirmed that three songs from the Paul McCartney's "Back in the World" CD are from the Mexico City concert and two are from Osaka, Japan.
"Calico Skies" (Osaka Dome - Nov. 17, 2002) "Michelle" (Mexico City, Nov. 3, 2002) "Let 'Em In"(Osaka Dome Nov. 17, 2002) " She's Leaving Home" (Mexico City Nov. 3, 2002), "Hey Jude" (Mexico City Nov. 3, 2002).
All the other songs on the album are from the "Back in the US" CD from the "Driving USA" first leg). (thanks to Miguel Carrera)
Paul was spotted in Regent's Park on Tuesday, April 22 which caused a mad dash from Cavendish Ave. to the park by diehard fans.
Paul is not planning to tour again until after August 2004. He wants to spend more time with Heather between now and then. After this tour he will take time off and start a new studio album.
Paul McCartney gave one of his biggest fans a thrill last night (April 22) by changing the lyrics of a song at his show last night as a birthday treat.UK radio DJ Geoff Lloyd interviewed the rock legend shortly before his Earls Court show in London and told him he had just turned 30. So McCartney decided to change the words of Wings hit "Jet" to "Geoff" to mark the occasion. (the interview will be aired on Virgin Radio in the UK May 18)
Lloyd who hosts his show (Breakfast Show) with Pete Mitchell said, "I wanted to try and get Paul to do something special for my birthday and throughout the interview suggested various tributes. He didn't seem too keen when I asked if I could duet with him on 'Ebony and Ivory,' but I did notice a twinkle in his eye when I suggested he change 'Jet' to 'Geoff.' I was honored just to talk to Paul but to have him change a song to celebrate my birthday is unbelievable."
His pal Mitchell said, "The first 'Jet' passed as normal but the second one was definitely Geoff. I couldn't believe it."
McCartney's spokesman confirmed the change, "It's the sort of thing he does. Paul's Auntie Jean was in the audience so he changed a line from 'Let 'Em In' from 'Auntie Gin' to 'Auntie Jean'." (Irish Examiner)
Paul said during his interview on Capitol Gold radio (UK) April 22 that there will not be a Glasgow, Scotland concert. He encouraged fans to come to Liverpool instead. The interview is not archived.
Paul McCartney has called for a ban on cluster bombs, following the recent war in Iraq. The ex-Beatle told BBC news that the knock-on effects of the "cowardly weapons" is to harm innocent civilians. (Hear the interview) You will need RealPlayer."It would be great to outlaw these cowardly weapons," he said. "What happens after the war finishes is that it's the civilians - mainly women and children - who get blown up. A lot of people agree that there are other ways to do it. I don't want anyone to fight anyone."
McCartney has contributed a song to a charity album released today, "Hope," the proceeds of which will go to War Child (charity).
Speaking of the conflict in Iraq, where cluster bombs were used, he said that "time will tell" if US led coalition were right to use force on the Iraqi regime. (New Musical Express)
MORESir Paul McCartney thinks it is too early to say whether Tony Blair and George Bush's war on Iraq was right or not. The musician says only "time will tell" whether it was right to invade the country to topple Saddam's regime.
He has also voiced his concerns about the way in which the war has been conducted in Iraq.
Describing himself as a "pacifist" he has told the BBC, "I felt that the UN all agreed that Saddam should be made to disarm. They didn't agree on how to do it."
The interview, to be broadcast during the 'Breakfast' (BBC1 televison 6am - 9am BST) show, coincides with the release of War Child's Hope album featuring tracks by Sir Paul, David Bowie and Cat Stevens - his first pop song for more than 25 years - is released to raise money fo r children in Iraq.
Sir Paul also discussed the bizarre life of Michael Jackson and his children. "I hope that his heart's in the right place, but he's a very unusual guy," he said. "I feel sorry for the kids being brought up under those veils whereas I was keen to send my kids to ordinary school and just throw them into the lion's den.
Paul McCartney has no plans to quit even "When I'm 64" -- and said on Sunday April 20, he'll keep singing in small-town taverns if that's the only place anyone will have him once his concert-playing days are over. "And if the day comes when they even throw me out of the pubs, I'll keep on singing outside the door," McCartney said in an interview in Germany's "Bild am Sonntag" newspaper.
"I'm always going to be a musician. It's strange -- I'm approaching the age when people officially go into retirement. But sorry, I don't feel like that at all. Retiring is not something I'm thinking about."
The former Beatle, who turns 61 in June, said he couldn't imagine becoming a pensioner because he feels fitter now than he did a decade ago -- thanks in part to his new wife Heather.
The author of the 1967 pop hit "When I'm 64" isn't at all worried about "losing his hair" or any of the lyrics in his song on the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album. McCartney told the German Sunday newspaper that applause from crowds is a fountain of youth for him. "It's just magic," he said of the crowd's reaction to his music. "It's a great feeling, every artist does it to get the applause. It sounds so simple but that's the whole story."
McCartney said his new wife Heather, 35, also keeps him young. "I love my job, the public loves me and the band," he said. "I feel like a boxer -- when you're winning, the punches don't hurt. Only when you lose is it hard and difficult. My body has learned to cope. I'm used to working hard up on the stage."
Speaking ahead of a (German) concert tour starting in Cologne on April 27 and ending in Hamburg in late May, McCartney said he had had a lot of good fortune in his life and that kept him fit. "Perhaps it's just luck?" he said when asked how he had managed to remain so vital at 60. "Another reason is certainly my wife Heather. For her I watch what I put on and what I look like. Love is a wonderful thing. It keeps you young."
BBC Radio Manchester has made available a two- part video interview with Paul conducted on December 13, 2001 on the BBC North West Tonight television news program. Part 1, Part 2 You will need RealPlayer.
The Daily Mirror's "HOPE" album for the children of Iraq is out on Easter Monday, April 21.The charity CD contains tracks recorded by 18 of the world's top music stars, including Sir Paul McCartney, George Michael and David Bowie.
All profits go to War Child to help injured and orphaned Iraqi children.
Tracklisting: Travis - The Beautiful Occupation; Avril Lavigne - Knockin' on Heaven's Door; Paul McCartney - Calico Skies (unreleased version); David Bowie - Everyone Says 'Hi'; George Michael - The Grave; Ronan Keating - In The Ghetto; Lee Ryan from Blue - Stand Up As People; Beverley Knight - Love's In Need of Love Today; Moby - Nearer; New Order - Vietnam; Basement Jaxx - Love is the Answer; Spiritualised - Hold On (Warchild Mix); The Charlatans - We Gotta Have Peace; Beth Orton - Ooh Child; Tom McRae - Border Song; Billy Bragg - The Wolf Covers Its Tracks; Yusuf Islam - Peace Train.
(US - album import order here) (UK- order here)
Sir Paul McCartney has revealed Robbie Williams stole his thunder with his collection of swing classics. The former Beatle says he was planning to record a selection of Rat Pack tunes, but had to abandon the idea when Robbie did the same with chart-topper "Swing When You're Winning."Sir Paul - currently playing a four-night stint at London's Earls Court - dropped his plan for fear of being branded a copycat. In an interview with the Real Radio network to be broadcast tomorrow, he told presenter Terry Underhill of his abandoned plan.
"I love old standard songs. So that's a long-standing ambition of mine. I must say that I was shaping up to do it but then Robbie Williams went and did one and I thought, 'Well, if I do it now it's going to look like oh he's just copying Robbie.'"
He says the situation was compounded with Rod Stewart's "It Had To Be You" album of classic songs.
"Every time that happens it puts the kibosh on it for me," said Sir Paul. "But I do love those songs and for me they remind me of my parents' generation, New Year's parties. All that music of that era is special to me. One day I'd like to do some of that." (Ananova)
Sir Paul McCartney is to share his songwriting secrets in a special radio program. The star, currently touring the UK for the first time in a decade, is among stars taking part in BBC Radio 2's celebration of music writing - Sold On Song. Sir Paul will be talking through the process of creating and recording his classics.A two-hour special dedicated to the millionaire musician, also featuring performances from his tour, kicks the season off on Easter Monday, April 21, 5pm to 7pm BST (12noon to 2pm ET) In the interview Sir Paul talks about his love of words, which was instilled by a schoolteacher.
"I used to read plays when I was kid on top of the bus, I still like to do that, read Dickens and stuff. I love to find uses of words. And then people like Elvis, Chuck Berry and Dylan came along and they took it into the poetic and exciting realm," he said.
"A lot of my songs are just me playing with words, I mean 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,' I don't know a Desmond or a Molly. I'm just imagining them."
Radio 2 is lining up a series of star names to talk about songwriting for the season.
The station's head of program Lesley Douglas said, "It will give the listeners' the opportunity to understand how songs are written - what motivates the great songwriters? How do you get into songwriting? How do you write for a particular singer?"
"Yesterday" is one of the most covered songs in recording history. But it's the original version, as performed by its composer Paul McCartney, which remains the best known.
"You're at the point in life where you've seen more troubles. So it does mean a bit more." Paul McCartney, on what "Yesterday" means to him now. Hear part of the interview and what he has to say about the song. Click here. You will need RealPlayer.
Mike McCartney may be the brother of one of the world's greatest singersongwriters, but he is about to upstage Sir Paul with an alternative tribute to the Swinging Sixties. The photographer will depict what 60s Liverpool life had to offer - other than The Beatles - when his exhibition of black and white pictures opens next month. The exhibition will be launched before Sir Paul plays to 40,000 fans at the King's Dock on Sunday, June 1.Mike, of Heswall, still refers to his billionaire brother as 'our kid' and said it was not out of character for him to eat chips in Chester Cathedral's grounds rather than living it up at the Grosvenor.
Fans are currently getting a taste of Mike's photography on the UK leg of his brother's world tour. In fact, Mike was name-checked at the MEN Arena last Thursday last week.
Macca, 60, told fans his brother provided him with rare Beatles photographs, which are shown on a video wall during his tribute to George Harrison, an acoustic version of "Something."
But Mike has chosen to ignore the Fab Four in his forthcoming exhibition. "I saw a film of our kid's US tour and asked if he wanted some of my pictures and he agreed," he said. "But in the exhibition, our kid does not get a mention. The pictures are all black and white but there will be no Beatles." In fact, the only picture relating to The Beatles is a picture of George Harrison's Jaguar as well as Mike's first motor, which he describes as a 'classic'.
During the 60s, Mike had access to the most happening and interesting people around. But he had no idea he was photographing the era that changed music history.
This exhibition is an entertaining mix of snapshots of stars and everyday Liverpool life, from pictures of his dad at home to the kings of rock 'n' roll such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. It also features candid pics of Mike's former band, Scaffold, who enjoyed a Number 1 hit with Lily the Pink in 1968. "There was much more going on at that time than The Beatles," said Mike.
Other pictures in Mike's exhibition include poet Roger McGough - also a former Scaffold member - asleep on a train and a young Lewis Collins working in a Liverpool hairdresser's.
As well as photography, Mike has recorded nine albums, both as a solo artist and with such names as Elton John, Jimi Hendrix, Spencer Davis and Wings.
Mike McCartney's "Liverpool Life" will run at the Museum of Liverpool Life, Pier Head, Liverpool from Thursday, May 29, until September 28. Free admission. Open daily 10am-5pm. (Chester Chronicle)
Thousands of people, including celebrities, have offered to help save 5,000 hedgehogs on a Scottish island. Paul McCartney is one of loads of people who say the hedgehogs can come and live with them.But they're racing against time to save the prickly creatures. Scottish Natural Heritage has hunters on the island of Uist trying to find and kill them, because they're eating rare bird eggs.
So far animal welfare groups have already managed to rescue 30 hedgehogs and take them from the island to the mainland. And many people have offered money so they can go and live at a wildlife sanctuary. Some are going straight to people's homes, the ones that are weaker are being looked after before being released. Only people who have really good facilities in their gardens are being allowed to have the hedgehogs.But people opposed to the rescue say the hedgehog groups may not be helping the animals in the long-run. They think the groups haven't properly looked at how well they creatures will survive in their new homes. (BBC)
Paul McCartney and wife Heather cycled almost unnoticed in the spring sunshine yesterday April 17.
They looked just like a couple of ordinary day-trippers as they took a romantic ride on mountain bikes along the prom at Brighton. And they even showed their handlebar skills by eating trays of chips - don't try this at home folks - as they weaved among other sun-seekers.
Paul, 60, in the middle of a major UK tour, looked relaxed in T-shirt, shorts and sandals while Heather sported a jacket, cropped trousers, floppy hat and trainers. The couple rode to the Palace Pier before stopping off for a cold drink at a café. Heather, 35, bought a £1million seafront home in Brighton six months ago.
Local Paul Bryson, 38, who saw them, said, "They seemed so happy. It was a boiling day and they were making the most of it. A few people did spot who they were but I don't think they could believe their eyes." (The Sun)
As Paul McCartney enjoys a few hours of recuperation before he returns to the stage in London tomorrow (April 18), The Diary can reveal possibly the real reason for his miraculous recovery from a show-stopping sore throat.For the former Beatle, who bounced back to fitness in Manchester last week after axing one Sheffield date, consulted the ancient oracles of Chinese herbal medicines. And where else to do that of course but Chester?
According to my spies, McCartney spent nearly 15 minutes in the city's Dr. & Herbs store, at the Forum Shopping Centre, after he fell ill with a cold and lost his voice.
And the rock legend, who had earlier been spotted eating fish and chips (???) was obviously perked up by the visit - because he then trooped into the centre's florist, Bloomin 'Eck, and bought some flowers, before autograph hunters sent him heading for the exit.
"He seemed in a good mood, smiling and chatting to those who stopped him," says one onlooker. "He spent a little time in the Chinese herbal shop, so it wouldn't surprise me if he asked for advice about his throat problem. After all he is the type to be into alternative medicine." (Manchester Evening News)
Paul's concert inside the Colosseum will be videotaped for a special DVD called "Live In the Colosseum." The DVD will feature excerpts from the concert and exclusive interviews with Paul, the band, promoters, the mayor of Rome and fans.
The show itself will be 2 hours with no pre-show and some surprise additions to the setlist.
Sir Paul McCartney is planning to play in Russia's second city, St. Petersburg, for its 300th anniversary celebrations.His tour organizers told the Itar-Tass news agency the former Beatle was going to head to St. Petersburg two days before his Moscow gig on 24 May.
McCartney plans to give a rock master-class in the former imperial capital, on May 22 as part of the city's 300th anniversary celebration. (BBC)
Sir Paul starts early to beat noise curfew Sir Paul McCartney has been told to start his four-night stint at London's Earls Court early - to avoid keeping the neighbors awake. A noise curfew means the shows - which begin on Friday - must end by 10.45pm. So now he is warning fans to get there early so they catch the entire 36-song concert.
The concert is due to begin at 7.30pm, slightly earlier than other nights of the tour - his first run of European dates for a decade.
"We would like all ticketholders to be aware of this early start," said Sir Paul's spokesman. "This is not the sort of show that will rock you to sleep. It's a loud gig with a lot of sound power behind it and the crowds add to the din with all their chanting and shouting. But we don't want anyone to miss their kip so we'll start the Earls Court show sooner." (Ananova)
(Interfax) - The State Duma Council on Tuesday decided not to discuss a request addressed to the Russian president to cancel a concert by Paul McCartney, the famous singer from the legendary band The Beatles, due to take place on Moscow's Red Square on May 24.The address was initiated by Alexei Mitrofanov, a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), who believes that it is "inappropriate" to hold the concert on Red Square.
"Such concerts should not be held on Red Square, and it is essentially an unprecedented event, as artists have given concerts on this square only on holidays, for example, City Day," Mitrofanov told Interfax on Tuesday.
Sergei Mitrokhin, deputy head of the Yabloko parliamentary faction, was surprised by Mitrofanov's initiative. "He [McCartney] won't be doing a strip-tease," he told Interfax.
"It is another PR action of the Liberal Democratic Party and, if it is voted on [in the Duma Council], no one except for the members of this faction will back it, except for maybe the Communist Party faction," Mitrokhin said. Vladislav Reznik, deputy head of the parliamentary faction Unity, characterized McCartney's upcoming visit to Russia as "a very important event." "McCartney remains almost the only rock musician who has never sang in Russia," Reznik told Interfax.
"I hope his concert on Red Square will take place no matter what the weather will be like. Russian Beatles fans deserve it," he said.
Andrei Vulf, a member of the Union of Right Forces faction, called the upcoming concert "a wonderful idea." "It is the best platform for an artist of this stature," he told Interfax.
"Millions of Russians have waited for this moment for 30 years, and I don't doubt that McCartney has at least twice as many fans in Russia as the number of supporters of the most popular political parties," Vulf said.
Pop legend Sir Paul McCartney caused a sensation in the city when he turned up to buy cod liver oil, chips and a bunch of flowers. Macca, accompanied by wife Heather, strolled up to Bloomin Heck Flowers, in The Forum, (Chester, England-midway between Manchester and Birmingham) for some pink oriental lilies and a red freesia. Staggered owner, Yvonne Harris, 46, of Blacon, said she could not believe her eyes when Sir Paul, one of the biggest names in the music industry, walked up and bought the blooms. And he even joked about paying cash rather than running up interest on his credit card.
Amazed Yvonne was stunned when the famous duo turned up at about 3.30pm. The former Beatle was fresh from his concert at Manchester's MEN Arena last week. Yvonne has since had fans crowding round her stall after the appearance of one of the biggest names in pop, eager to hear about their hero's purchase.
She said, "I was amazed. He was actually here in the precinct and he was buying flowers from me I was flattered. Paul was really friendly and just wanted to be treated like a man in the street. Heather wasn't talkative, but he was joking about paying less by using cash instead of a credit card."
But Macca, wearing a casual khaki suit and a T-shirt, refused to sign autographs for fans or have his photo taken. Yvonne said, "He refused to sign autographs because he said he would have been there forever. (story)
Fans of former-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney have been invited to bid for a tiny piece of musical history -- germs from a bout of flu that caused him to cancel a recent gig.
After two days on the ebay.co.uk Web site, the germs have received two bids, the highest for 1.20 pounds (about $2) and come from British fan Ian Mears who claims he caught the bug from McCartney when he met him earlier this month. (Note: the item has be removed from ebay)
"I believe this is the same strain of flu, and effectively his virus," Londoner Mears told the Daily Star newspaper on Wednesday. "I had no cold on the Saturday, then on Sunday I spent most of the afternoon with Paul and by Tuesday I too had a cold." Successful bidders will receive their germs by post. "The highest bidder will receive a resealable bag that I will cough into," he said. "Or if preferred, they can have a plastic container full of mucus." (Reuters) (read Mears confession that it was a joke)
Five of Birmingham's policemen were reunited backstage with Paul McCartney before the April 13 NIA show. In 1963 they had given the Beatles their helmets (Bobbies helmets) as a disguise to smuggle them past 1,000 screaming girls at the Birminghan Hippodrome. When Paul came into his dressing room he said, "Where are the coppers then? Where are the scuffers? Long time no see, this is fabulous!"
After the show former policeman,Tom Jones, 63 said, "Paul was such a gentleman, it was wonderful to meet him again. We only got to see the Beatles from the wings at the Hippodrome so to see Paul's fantastic show was great." (see early story)
In February Paul was recording at Middle Ear Studios in Miami for a couple days. The studio belongs to the Bee Gees.
Paul's May 10 - Rome, Italy - private acoustic concert 'inside' the Colosseum for 300 + guests and ticket buyers will have a ticket auction for charity starting Wednesday, April 16. link to auction Tickets bids start at ¤500 ($542.33) for one ticket or ¤1000 (1,084.71) opening bid for two tickets. No more than two tickets can be purchased.
The free concert on May 11 for 300,000 people will have a special VIP section in front of the stage and Paul will perform his 3-hour show at full volume! The show will be videotaped for a later TV broadcast.
Pop legend Sir Paul McCartney and wife Heather strolled arm-in-arm recently in London's Hyde Park amid sun-seekers - who had no idea they were rubbing shoulders with a superstar. Although a few fans recognized them and said "hello," most just passed by without a second glance.
Paul graces the cover of Mojo's May issue and Yoko Ono is on an alternate cover. The UK magazine features the two covers and talks about the McCartney/Lennon songwriting credit issue.
Less copies of the Yoko Ono cover were printed and concealed inside three issues are original Yoko Ono drawings.
Sir Paul McCartney has revealed that he and wife Heather Mills were turned down as contestants for "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" - because host Chris Tarrant did not think they would be good enough.Landmines campaigner Heather wanted them to appear together on the celebrity version of the show to raise money for charity. But they were disappointed when presenter Tarrant told them they would be "terrible".
Sir Paul told Mojo magazine they recently met the TV host and an eager Heather asked if they could go on the program. He explained, "Heather, in her keenness, said, 'We should come on the Celebrity Millionaire show ... I know all the answers Paul doesn't know and he knows all the ones I don't know'. Chris said, 'No, you shouldn't come on. You'd be terrible'. He just completely took the p---, which was hilarious because you'd expect him to be really keen."
Sir Paul, 60, also told how Heather had been stung by the negative publicity she has received since marrying him in June 2002. Heather, 35, who lost her leg in a motorcycle accident 10 years ago, has complained of being cast as the "wicked stepmother" amid rumors she does not get on with Sir Paul's daughter Stella.
The former Beatle said, "I think the shock for Heather was that she'd been 'Great model who overcomes accident and now does a lot of work for charity and disabled people'. The minute she married me, it was 'Who does she think she is?' It's really quite unfair, but she's a sitting target. I think it did give her a lot of grief." But he added, "The same thing happened in the early days with Linda. It comes with the territory - marrying this guy. It's not so much me, though, it's just fame. The same thing happens if you marry Tom Cruise or Michael Douglas."
Sir Paul has been involved in a well-publicized row with John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono after trying to reverse the Lennon-McCartney songwriting credits on some tracks.
In the interview, he claimed he was now "not fussed" about it - and admitted the move had upset many Beatles fans. "There is an unfairness there, I think. But it's an unfairness I'm willing to live with. I don't mind, and I do think it has rebounded on me a bit because people want to know, 'What the f--- does he think he's doing?' I've had letters from people saying, 'Paul, you're doing yourself no favors. I was a big fan of yours but this terrible thing of trying to ruin John's reputation...' I'm not trying to ruin John's reputation." Sir Paul insisted that he and Ono are not locked in a feud.
"I know that's the public perception of it, but I do not have a bad relationship with her," he said. "We're not enemies, me and Yoko. We send each other Christmas cards and everything. She's more like a distant relative."
He also talked about his feelings of grief over the loss of George Harrison, who died from cancer in November 2001. "The bottom line is that I will see that man no more, and that's a little bit horrific for me. When you lose someone dear you just wish someone could magic it all back again," he said. (This Is London)
Fashion designer Stella McCartney had to be edited at a recent Beverly Hills gala in her honor sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue and Cedars-Sinai. McCartney told event organizers she "wanted to pick out the tablecloths for the gala," an insider told New York magazine. The pattern she came up with featured monkeys fornicating with human skeletons. For good measure, some of the monkeys were holding guns to their heads. The tables were covered in light pink and white instead. (NY Post)
"Paul McCartney has promised to let me massage him, although Heather gave me the evil eye when he slipped me his card." --Dorothy Stein, 33 masseuse to the stars. (The Sunday Times Magazine UK)
Paul told the BBC in an interview that he had written some new songs and planned to start working on an album later this year.
Heather Mills was spotted this week in a trendy wedding shop in London's West End called Confetti on Tottenham Court Road. Confetti's Web page features a replica of her wedding dress that will cost you £930 ($1,450).
April 9 Paul's entire band took a tour of LIPA and supposedly taught a class. Paul was not there because he was ill but would have joined them as a teacher for the day. When the band left they were greeted by waiting fans. Paul is currently resting up in Liverpool until the Birmingham shows.
On April 10 in Manchester and April 14 in Birmingham, Mike McCartney was in attendance at Paul's concerts. (see tour page)
Heather Mills McCartney offered tidbits from her gritty life -- her criminal father, her runaway mother, the loss of her leg, her string of lovers and her fight to ban landmines -- as part of an inspirational video-chat Wednesday April 9, with hundreds of Burnaby students.Speaking from Manchester, the former model and wife of music legend Paul McCartney urged the students -- who gathered in the auditorium of Burnaby South (Canada) secondary and listened via another video-link at Cariboo Hill secondary -- to strive to make a difference and ignore anyone who tells them they're dreamers.
"That's what I was told when I was young," McCartney said from the monitor mounted on the stage. "If I had listened to those people, we wouldn't have cleared hundreds of thousands of mines and saved lives."
McCartney, who spent an hour talking to the students and answering questions, prompted titters at times with accounts of an early career -- selling stick-on bras door-to-door -- her determination to become a model after repeated rejections and the reaction of her hysterical boyfriend after an accident took off her leg.
She also described how she became interested in landmines and their victims when she needed a new prosthesis because the one she had no longer fit and she discovered there was no method of recycling them. With 67,000 amputees in the U.K., she began wondering how many might have "spare arms and legs in their cupboards." After making a national appeal for donations to help amputees in Third World countries, she collected 5,000.
During the rundown on her private life, she never mentioned Paul McCartney by name. Her only reference to him came when she suggested the media turned against her after she married "an icon."
The school campaign, by students in the international baccalaureate program, is striving to raise $1,000 to help with mine clearing in Cambodia. Clearing mines costs $1 per square meter, McCartney told the students, and the work is done on hands and knees. (Vancouver Sun)
It was her famous father who set the immortal words "all you need is love" to music. And if there's one thing that surrounds Stella McCartney now, it's an awful lot of love.Adored by celebrity friends - most of them wearing Stella creations - cruising high in the fickle world of fashion design, preparing to open her first London shop and now named by glossy style bible Harpers & Queen as the world's best-dressed woman.
She has even been singled out in a survey of ten to 15-year-old girls as their biggest role model. Some 40 per cent who took part in the Girlguiding UK survey said they admired the 31-year-old and thought her to be the best role model in the public eye.
Stella, it seems, really is a star.
"Celebritocracy at its coolest," coos the May edition of the Harpers & Queen. "Nothing ever ruffles this girl's feathers." As for Stella herself, she simply says, "I know what makes chicks tick."
Right now, things are ticking along quite nicely for the girl who has stuck by her mother Linda's animal rights principles, having refused to use fur in her designs and wearing animal-friendly vegetarian shoes. Recently she opened her first standalone store in New York, and is now planning the launch of her London boutique Wednesday, April 16 which bears her name, at 30 Bruton Street, W1. It's been a meteoric rise to the top of the fashion ladder, bringing fame and personal fortune to the daughter of one of the world's most famous songwriters. So what has made Stella such a force in the world of fashion?
You could say that creativity is in her blood. Educated at a state secondary school - she recently declared her famous father as "tight" for not sending her a public school - she worked aged just 15 with Christian Lacroix on his first couture collection. There followed several years learning her craft on Savile Row and, after graduating from Central St. Martins College, the ultimate training ground for London fashion fledglings, her first collections were snapped up by retail heavyweights such as Joseph and Browns. French fashion house Chloe quickly swooped to sign her and colleague Phoebe Philo. Soon Stella had made her name - and friends in high places - dressing Hollywood stars and It girls in flattering, feminine outfits.
Sarah Davidson, owner of boutique Jane Davidson on Thistle Street, was the first to bring the revamped Chloe label to Scotland back in 1999. "Stella's trademark has always been the sharp tailored suit following her Savile Row training. She combines suits with delicate camisoles to create her own individual style," she says. "She took on the Chloe label after Karl Lagerfeld left and really turned around what was an ailing company alone. She's responsible for bring Chloe to a new market and making it a name which our generation recognizes. She has had a rough time of it from the fashion press with her first couple of solo collections but this season she has been really well received. Personally, I think that her clothes are beautiful and that it has just taken her a while to find her feet on her own."
Indeed, her most recent offering at London Fashion Week has been best received since her departure from Chloe in favor of the Gucci Group. She experimented with the construction of her garments, but kept it chic with a "kittenish" theme. There was hand-embroidered padding on the frequently featured corsets with layers cut away to reveal the structure. The sensibility of sportswear was added to formal dressing and traditional fabrics, while strong geometric patterns were used along with bonded latex and chandelier crystals.
Now with her fashion label in her own name, the natural progression is her own shops. The new London residence will cover 10,000sq ft over four storeys and is located in one of the most desirable shopping districts of the city, a sibling to her New York West 14th Street outlet.
Of course, Stella has not had to climb the ladder in the same way that others have to in order to make it an industry only rivalled in its competitiveness by pop stardom and Hollywood fame. If your dad is one of the most famous men in the world, doors open that might otherwise have stayed closed - we only need to look at Jade Jagger, Jason Connery and many other celebrity offspring for proof of that. Which has led to criticism. Karl Lagerfeld once said she was "nothing more than a T-shirt designer."
Others may have fled the room in tears, but Stella says, "People attack me because of my family and they think that I'm a chancer. I probably will always question if people take me seriously or not but that will keep me going." Now, it seems, the sneers are fading. Having made Madonna's wedding dress - but, famously, not her new step-mother's - proof of Stella's ascent comes in the May edition of Harpers & Queen.
Not only is she named the world's best-dressed woman, her mates Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow - who are both regularly spotted in her creations - make it into the top ten with her.
All of that, and she's found love too. Romance has blossomed with Alasdhair Willis, the 31-year-old former publisher of Wallpaper magazine and known to friends as Mr. Gucci, over the past three years. The pair are said to be planning to wed this year at what will, no doubt, be the fashion event of 2003.
Yet for all her A-list status, Stella still manages to have the charm of someone who is far from caught up in her own self-importance - perhaps why she gets the Girl Guides' vote.
"I don't think I'll realize what I am achieving until I'm 70 and I look back on it," she says. "I congratulate myself rarely. But I've always been like that. Believing the hype is a horrible thing. I really don't like it when the people around me believe the hype about themselves."
Stella McCartney's collection is also available at Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh. Her new store at 30 Brunton Street W1 will open on April 16
Harpers & Queen, May edition includes its 100 Best Dressed list. Published April 14 in the UK.
Harpers & Queen Top 10 Best Dressed
So just who are the world's best dressed women - at least in the opinion of Harpers & Queen?
1 Stella McCartney
2 Gwen Stefani
3 Kate Moss
4 Sophie Dahl
5 Thandie Newton
6 Laura Bailey
7 Gwyneth Paltrow
8 Sam Taylor-Wood
9 Liberty Ross
10 Virginia Bates
They do say that the relationship between Mrs. Paul McCartney (Heather Mills) and her stepdaughter, fashion designer Stella McCartney, isn't that of the wicked stepmom-type. Yet it is said Heather won't show at the April 16 launch of Stella's new Bruton Street shop in Mayfair.The Brits report that Heather was p.o.-ed at Stella for referring to her father as "a tight bastard" because he sent her to a comprehensive school in East Sussex. But Sir Paul insists that relations between his wife and child are "not as bad as they seem." (NY Post)
Heather Mills-McCartney yesterday backed the Daily Mirror Ali Appeal, saying, "It is a worthy cause." The wife of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney was left shocked and upset by his horrific injuries.Heather, who set up a trust to help landmine victims after losing a leg in a road accident in 1993, added, "I am more than happy to get behind the Daily Mirror." She said the badly-burned little boy would not be ready to have artificial limbs fitted for at least two months. Heather said, "This can be done in his own country, but it would be far less stressful for Ali if we can fly a prosthetist (limb fitter) out when his limbs have healed."
She said as Ali grows he will need several sets of arms along with emotional and financial support for years.
Daily Mirror readers have donated £25,000 ($38,750) in one day to our appeal for bomb victim Ali Ismaeel Abbas. We launched the fund after Ali, 12, lost his both arms in a missile attack which destroyed his home.Ali is being treated at a hospital in Baghdad but doctors say he needs advanced care urgently. His mother, father and brother were killed in the blast and Ali also suffered life-threatening burns.
Ali's picture and story in the Daily Mirror touched the hearts of readers all over the world. By 10am more than 300 readers had dug deep, donating £7,500 ($11,625).
A further £2,000 ($3,100) had poured in by lunchtime to pay for vital medical, food, water and power supplies for hospitals in Baghdad.
David Bull, of Unicef, said last night, "We're overwhelmed by the response from Daily Mirror readers. Unicef has helped deliver 100 trucks and tankers full of water and medical supplies into Iraq. Much more is needed and the generous donations from Mirror readers will help us do this work."
Ali and dozens of other children are being treated in Baghdad's al-Kindi hospital. But doctors believe time could be running out for Ali unless he is taken to a hospital with advanced intensive care facilities.
Our offices were yesterday inundated with messages of support from all over the world, including South Africa, Norway and Canada.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help child war victims by post or by credit card donation on the number below. The money raised will be used by Unicef to care for children in Ali's hospital and for other children injured in the war.
Send checks or postal orders (in British Sterling) made payable to: The Ali Appeal, c/o Daily Mirror, P.O. Box 6867, London E14 5AN England.
Or you can donate by Visa, Mastercard or Switch cards by calling in the UK: 0870 902 3185 or 011 44 870 902 3185 from the US) (story)
A still ailing Paul McCartney performed at the Manchester Evening News Arena Wednesday night. Paul saw a doctor backstage before the show. He added new songs to the setlist -- "Things We Said Today," "I've Just Seen A Face," and "Two of Us." He cut out "Maybe I'm Amazed," "Coming Up" and "Driving Rain." (Details)
Pop legend Sir Paul McCartney has lost his voice - putting his two sell-out shows at the Manchester Evening News Arena later this week in doubt.
The ex-Beatle was said to be "bitterly disappointed" after he was forced to cancel his latest UK tour performance at Sheffield's Hallam Arena yesterday.
Today, Sir Paul's spokesman Geoff Baker said, "To be perfectly honest I have no idea if Paul will be ready in time for his MEN Arena shows on Wednesday and Thursday. Obviously he's hoping that everything will be all right because he simply hates the idea of letting his fans down. This is something that has never happened to him before and he will be doing everything he possibly can to get himself fit for these two shows."
Fans were being told today not to panic and to hang on to their tickets. A MEN Arena spokesman said, "We've been in touch with the promoters and they say the two Manchester dates are secure. Obviously, we'll be keeping a close eye on developments, but the shows on Wednesday and Thursday look safe at the moment."
Paul has been recouperating from laryngitis with family in Liverpool. Wix, Brian and Rusty used the break to visit the Beatles Shop on Mathew St. (photos)
Sir Paul McCartney has canceled his latest UK tour performance after losing his voice. He lost his voice after
performing in Sheffield last night, and is suffering with a cold.
Fans for tonight's gig (April 6) at the Hallam Arena have been urged to hold on to tickets as organizers bid to reschedule the show.
Sir Paul said, "I've caught a cold which made my voice start to go after last night's show. I woke up this morning with virtually no voice. I've been doing all that I can to try and get my voice back and I tried singing a couple of numbers at a sound check this afternoon. But nothing has worked, and so I am afraid I have to cancel this show in order to save the other gigs on the tour. I'm sorry to all the people who all bought tickets for the show, at least we got to do one gig in Sheffield. We'll be back to do the show here at some other time."
The show was canceled an hour and a half before showtime at 6:30 pm with people waiting to be let in. An announcement was made over the PA system saying the show was canceled and that Paul was sick.
It is Sir Paul's first UK tour in 10 years. He has already taken his Back in the World tour around the US, Canada, Mexico and Japan, playing 58 concerts in 37 cities.His other UK dates include the MEN Arena, Manchester, on Wednesday. After his UK stint, he plans several shows in Europe.
UPDATE:
Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney today (April 7) apologized after losing his voice and canceling last night's show in Sheffield.He sketched this unhappy self-portrait and wrote above it "Sorry!" But he promised more than 11,000 disappointed fans that he will be back for the second night of his two sell-out shows at Hallam FM Arena.
Concertgoers are being urged to hold on to their tickets by promoters who are planning to reschedule it on his Back In The World tour.
A bad cold was blamed for him calling off the last night's show just an hour and half before he was due back on stage. Sir Paul woke with a throat problem at his Sheffield hotel yesterday morning, but tried to soldier on. It was only after a sound check at the venue with two numbers, including "Coming Up," that he realized he wouldn't be able to go on.
An announcement left some fans in tears and car parking ticket money was returned to scores of people who had arrived early. Concert ticket refunds are available from the box office. A throat specialist has been called to treat Macca ahead of his next planned concerts at Manchester MEN Arena on Wednesday and Thursday.
Geoff Baker, McCartney's press officer, told The Star how McCartney was only able to communicate using gestures after the sound check. He said, "If he had broken his leg he would have gone on. But he has completely lost his voice. I know this man and he will be back on stage as soon as he can.''
Fan Stephen Wilson said, "We thought it was a wind up until the announcement was made twice. One girl was in tears. I felt for fans who had travelled a long distance.''
Heather has launched her newly designed Web site which features an amputee discussion forum. The site is not yet complete but you can check it out here.
"I'd just been through cancer with Linda and here I was going through it all over again with a mate (George Harrison) of 50 years. He wasn't my immediate family but he almost was. He'd always felt like my little brother."
Paul McCartney takes a breath, focuses on a point in the distance, mutters, "What a lovely boy" then carries on. "The last time I met him, he was very sick and I held his hand for four hours. As I was doing it I was thinking 'I've never held his hand before, ever. This is not what two Liverpool fellas do, no matter how well you know each other'. I kept thinking, 'he's going to smack me here'. But he didn't. He just stroked my hand with his thumb and I thought 'Ah, this is OK, this is life. It's tough but it's lovely. That's how it is'. I knew George before I knew any of the others and I loved that man. I'm so proud to have known him. Still, as sad as it was, you take the great bit, which was that last time you saw him, and that's what you remember. That and all the other lovely memories."
I ask now that John and George have gone, whether he and Ringo ever joke with each other about who is next.
"It's not worth thinking about, is it? When your number's up, it's up. So live your life. I don't worry too much about it. I was walking down the street in London the other day and some guy said 'Eh, Paul! No, no, you shouldn't be doing this. I don't like this. Where's your minder?' He was telling me off like he was my dad.
But I enjoy life, I always have. I go to the pictures on my own, get on buses, even in New York. People are always going on at me for using the London Underground. But I use it all the time. I just wander off."
"I prefer to live life the way it should be and not worry too much because when the great man upstairs wants you, he'll have you."
Forty years after The Beatles had their first No.1, McCartney is on the UK leg of a sell-out world tour which is smashing box office records and making him the highest-earning celebrity in the world. I ask if the man who famously wrote a parody about being 64 ever thought he'd be doing this at 60 and he shakes his head and laughs.
"When I was a kid in The Beatles, I didn't think I'd be doing this at 30. Back then nobody really lasted past their 20s. If you'd have said to me back then that I'd be playing for the Queen in her garden when I was 60, I might have laughed at you. But I did and I'm here still doing it and I don't feel too bad. As long as people are so interested they want to pay to see you, then it's cool.
This 16-country tour, which arrives in Manchester on Thursday, is his first for 10 years and when it ends in Liverpool on June 1, he will have played 91 concerts, performing songs 3,276 times.
He is looking and singing like a man many years his junior and with his 35-year-old wife Heather Mills on his arm, it's clear he is enjoying a second wind.
So how old does he feel? "I don't feel any age, I never have. Those 30, 40, 50, 60 landmark birthdays never meant anything to me. I treat them all the same and it seems to work out like that. Life is really good right now, so why worry about things? When I was with Wings I used to worry about the shadow of The Beatles. So I wouldn't do any of their songs. Now I don't care. I just look at my whole career and choose anything I fancy doing. Which is why I'm doing 23 Beatles songs every night. It's great for everyone."
His lack of self-awareness, plus the talented backing group he has assembled, allow McCartney to turn in some of the best performances of his life and win the kind of reviews he would have killed for when he was with Wings. At times, the criticism of that group was savage, particularly where the vocal performance of his first wife Linda was concerned. How did somebody feted one minute as half of the most talented songwriting team on earth cope with sudden accusations of naffness?
He says, "I've learned that if you try something different, you are going to get knocked. If I had just carried on doing my Beatles stuff maybe I wouldn't have got knocked. But I wanted to see if I could do something different. It was hard at first with Wings, because we were a bit rough. But there was a time when The Beatles weren't very good. The difference was we were being bad in private, whereas Wings were being it in public. It's what happens when you take risks. I like taking risks. Half the time I don't know why I'm doing it. But I know that if The Beatles hadn't taken risks there would have been no Sergeant Pepper."At a conservative estimate, the lad from a Liverpool council estate who left school at the first opportunity is worth £700 million ($1.1 billion) Last year, when his US tour grossed £80million ($126 million), no other performer earned more than him. And it is something he is immensely proud of.
"When I read about things like that I think, that's not me. Heather said to me this morning, 'I don't think of you as rich, you know.' And I said, 'I don't either.' But I am. And the best thing about it is being able to help friends and relatives with health problems."
"We just had a friend of Heather's who was stuck in an NHS hospital. She was going to be in over Christmas and I said 'Get her private'. They did the operation that night and she was home for Christmas. It sounds a bit goody-goody but that's the real buzz I get out of money."
So his massive fortune doesn't embarrass him? "Not at all. When I left school I set out to get a job and earn good money if I could. I'm no different from anyone else. Some people think making all this money is uncool. I don't. I'm trying to do what I do to the very best of my ability. I'm not embarrassed if that means I earn loads."
The last time The Beatles played live was in 1968. They played roughly a dozen songs. On this tour McCartney plays 36. But the real difference now is he can hear himself. "At the end with The Beatles we couldn't hear ourselves with all the screaming. Our sound was going through little amps and baseball speakers in these huge stadiums and it was just a joke. So we just took the Mickey."
Paul laughs as he recalls, "John would be totally pissing about on the piano, whacking his arm up and down the keyboard and we were in hysterics. Now we've got these gigantic speakers so no matter how loud they scream, we're going to win."
There is a sense that McCartney is returning to Britain just when we need him. With the country at war we all need cheering up and he is keen to oblige.
"We're here to lift people's spirits. We're musicians, not politicians. I'd prefer peace to war and I agree with those people who went on the marches, because there was no second resolution. But it is a complex issue and it's happening now. So I'm not going to say that our boys shouldn't be in there when they're laying their lives on the line. I've got relatives out there so I'm not going to say anything that would lower their morale. But yes, peace would definitely be preferable."
The Beatles were widely attributed with lifting America out of depression after John F. Kennedy was assassinated and McCartney did it again last year after 9/11. They loved him for the support he showed New York and they rewarded him by breaking box office records in 21 cities.
The Yanks claimed the tour, with all those classic Fab Four numbers, reminded them of a better time. Which, when you think about it, has always been the function of The Beatles.
But this return to Britain's stadiums after 10 years is all about a revitalized McCartney plundering his untouchable back catalog and letting rip. If you never saw The Beatles, commit crimes to get a ticket because this is as close as it will ever get.
And the highest compliment I can pay McCartney is that his performance was so mesmeric. I didn't notice one thumbs-up all night. (The Mirror)
Sir Paul McCartney bounces on stage for the soundcheck at Antwerp's Sportpaleis (April 1). A gaggle of clowns, who make up part of the warm up show, applaud and cheer each song which reverberates around the empty stadium. This is clearly what grizzled old roadies call a 'happy' tour. And for good reason. Sir Paul McCartney and his band of young musicians have been on the road for exactly a year - racking up a fortune in ticket sales. The American leg alone grossed $126million (£80million), making it the most successful tour of 2002. It's likely to repeat that feat in the UK when the first chords are played in Sheffield's Hallam Arena on Saturday.
In a year's time, the tour will come to an end with a concert, fittingly enough, in Liverpool.
"The audience will be my relatives, most of them," says Paul. "Where we are playing is on the bank of the Mersey and I like the idea of finishing there, finally bringing the whole thing home."
Before then, he will also play a concert in Russia, "It's the first time I have ever travelled there. It's exciting (because) we were chuffed in the 60s when we heard The Beatles were big in Russia. We thought, 'Wow! The power of music! We've even got behind the iron curtain.' Also (although) I wrote 'Back in The USSR,' I have never been there and sung it. But lots of other people have."
Paul McCartney is aware that the timing for the start of this second part of the tour couldn't really be worse: Operation Iraqi Freedom began a few days before the first concert in Paris. He says he didn't even consider calling the tour off.
"Our role is to lift peoples' spirits, to get out there and remind people of the value of peace and love, which most of our songs are about.
But the avid peace campaigner who protested against the Vietnam war, the conflict in Biaffra and wrote the song "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" doesn't tow a predictable line when it comes to the current crisis.
"It's a very complex issue," he argues. "World War II for my parents was 'Hitler is going to invade England, so let's stop him'. But now after 11 September, there's another threat, so it's a very dfficult call."
One made even more difficult for someone whose close relative (whom he refuses to name) is currently serving in the Gulf. "The bottom line for me is that I have a relative out there. I wouldn't do anything to bring them down. I am not a politician."
He is, however, a businessman. The world's wealthiest musician with an estimated fortune of £713million ($1.2 billion) admits that he carries on working at 60, not just for the thrill of the crowd's appreciation, but also for the cash.
"I go out there to earn money. All of us go to work to earn money and if we earn a lot of money we're pleased. I am the same."
And the singer, whose concert includes songs from all his various musical incarnations, says he has no intention of retiring when this tour come to an end.
"I certainly wouldn't announce it was my farewell tour because of all the people that say that and then, after a year, they say: 'well, it's not quite my last tour - I'm coming out again!' I'm just not like that." (BBC News)
Dave Matthews Band, Linkin Park, Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2 Autographed Guitars and Posters available via Online Auction, and Live Auctions on Radio Stations Across the U.S."Save The Earth Fest 2003" Earth Day event will take place online and on the radio this year. The event will be an online auction and several live auctions at radio stations across the country of some of the most sought after autographed guitars, posters and memorabilia.
This year's line up will feature autographed guitars from Dave Matthews Band, Jeff Beck, Garth Brooks, Eric Clapton, Kiss, Lenny Kravitz, Linkin Park, Melissa Etheridge, Phish, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2 and a full range of other autographed items from a large selection of popular recording artists ranging from 311 to the Eagles.The auction website is currently running now until April 23, 2003 at 8:00 pm PST. Users can view full color images of the items to be auctioned, check current bids, and enter their own bids right from their desktop. Radio Station live auction information will be available online as well. For a list of stations or to place a bid visit http://www.SaveTheEarth.net
"After a tough few years, I feel like I'm back in the land of the living," says Paul McCartney, relaxing in his dressing room (Barcelona) after an afternoon bike-riding in the spring sunshine with wife Heather."I've had my low points but now I've got this great band and Heather and, well, that's the magic of life. I wake up every morning and think: 'Nah, it's got to end, it can't go on' but it does." And as he says it he touches wood for the fourth time in 10 minutes.
"She is a fantastic woman with a great sense of purpose, a great sense of humor and, let's face it, she's not hard to look at," he says. "She works her butt off for her landmines charity and she doesn't get a penny for it. People think I do a good job but it's nothing compared to her. She gives people their lives back. I've seen it."
At 60, Macca is in his element. Proving to his missus and the world that he's not half the man he used to be.
I ask if Heather is his mental Viagra.
"I'm a Viagra donor. This is where the world gets it from. I don't need that stuff," and again he touches wood. Then remembers the other great love of his life."Not many men meet up with one good woman. So I knew how lucky I was to find Linda. And then it happened again with Heather. When I saw her at The Mirror Pride of Britain awards I thought: 'Wow, she looks great.' Which was exactly the same with Linda. With both I had a very strong physical attraction."
His children Heather, 39, Mary, 33, Stella, 31 and 26-year-old James weren't as enamored.
"It was tough at first but it's got a lot easier. After a year of intense grieving, I thought I'm not going to do this forever. I told the kids that I thought it was on the cards I'd find another woman. They said that was fine. But when I met one, it was different. They were shocked and had to take time to come around. But it's not as bad as it seems. Basically, the kids get on well with Heather and some nice things are happening recently such as Heather wearing one of Stella's frocks at a charity do. It's all coming together."Would a baby be the icing on the cake for him?
"I don't know. We're married, we love each other and we'll take whatever happens.""I said at the beginning of the tour, 'what will happen if I cry?' Because it happens with these songs and you never know it's going to hit you," says McCartney. So I thought it's just too bad. I'm going to do it. I'll own up. I was doing 'Here Today' on the radio for America and I lost it. But then there's a lot of emotion and time in these songs. I'm talking about meeting 16-year-old girls right through to Linda. All my life is in there."
There are 23 Beatles numbers in this 36-strong set, far more than the Fab Four use to play on tour in the 60s. Every one, apart from "Something," written primarily by McCartney. And now we are in no doubt because the credits on the live CD read: Songs By McCartney And Lennon. For some diehard fans, this is heresy. For Macca, it's his chance finally to put the record straight.
"I'm letting people know that the songs I sing today are my own and it makes sense to switch it around. I'm doing nothing wrong. There was an agreement between me, John and Brian Epstein that if we ever wanted to, we could switch the Lennon and McCartney thing. It came about because when we were proof-reading the 'Beatles Anthology,' there was a picture of John and underneath it said: 'Yesterday by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.' I thought that should be under a picture of me. I wasn't being big-headed. I just asked that for once in 30 years, my name could be switched as a reward. It nearly happened but then it didn't," he says without mentioning that Yoko put her foot down. But now he has gone and done it regardless. The bottom line is I know what I wrote and so did John. It has come out like I'm trying to dance on John's grave which is a pity because I am his biggest fan."
"I'm the guy who knew him best. We slept together as teenagers, top-and-tailed in millions of hitch-hiking places. We were in little rooms doing the Beatles stuff when no one else was so I'd hate people to think I'm trying to do him down."
I point out that things didn't go too well in the 70s.
"We had our fall-outs over business. It was like a divorce and we bitched at each other. But we got to be good friends again before he died. It would have been really tough for me to deal with if we hadn't.""I used to ring him and we had some lovely conversations about ordinary things. I'd say: 'What are you doing today?' and he'd say 'baking bread'. I'd go: 'I bake bread' and we were swapping recipes across the Atlantic. It was back to normal. I was proud to have him in my life. Same with Linda, George, my mum and dad. And I hope they were proud to have me in theirs. It's very sad but you have to move on."
McCartney looks at least a decade younger than his age. And it's not all down to a fanatical vegetarianism which means the 116 roadcrew all have to forgo meat and fish in the backstage canteen.
During the day he will bicycle, jog or go sailing. And his voice is in astonishing shape, perfectly complementing the tightest, most talented group he has played with, outside the Beatles. (The Mirror - UK)
Former Beatle Paul McCartney's music publishing company has obtained rights to 23 classic rock 'n' roll songs composed by the late Carl Perkins, including "Blue Suede Shoes," "Honey Don't" and "Matchbox."
Under the long-term music publishing deal announced Friday, McCartney's MPL Communications Inc. will be responsible for worldwide administration of the Perkins catalog. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.
"Carl Perkins was one of my earliest influences; I am quite simply a fan of his," McCartney said in a statement.
Perkins, the "Rockabilly King" who died in 1998 at age 65, is considered one of the most influential singer-songwriters of his era, penning hits for such greats as Johnny Cash ("Daddy Sang Bass"), Patsy Cline ("I Was So Wrong"), the Judds ("Let Me Tell You About Love"), Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
He recorded his own hit version of "Blue Suede Shoes" before Presley turned it into a smash record for himself. Three songs in the newly acquired catalog were recorded by the Beatles -- "Honey Don't" and "Matchbox" with Ringo Starr on lead vocals, and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" with George Harrison singing lead. McCartney also recorded "Matchbox" as a bonus track on his DVD release of "Back in the U.S." Other rockabilly standards in the Perkins collection include "Dixie Fried," "Boppin' the Blues" and "Cat Clothes."
MPL, founded by McCartney in 1971, boasts one of the largest privately owned collections of music publishing rights, which includes the catalogs of such composers as McCartney himself, Buddy Holly, Jerry Herman, Frank Loesser and Meredith Wilson.
Sir Paul McCartney's planned concert at Celtic Park was thrown into doubt today after conflicting statements from tour promoters and his own spokesman.
The Beatles legend had said last month he would play in front of 60,000 fans at Parkhead on May 30. But today his UK promoter, Marshall Arts, said the concert would not take place, insisted it had never been confirmed and contracts were never exchanged. A spokeswoman for Marshall Arts said, "Nothing has been confirmed yet."
Celtic said they had received a verbal inquiry about staging the gig but said nothing had been received in writing. A spokesman for the club said he believed the concert had been nothing more than speculation.
There is no mention of the Celtic Park date on Sir Paul's tour itinerary on his website. But the superstar's personal spokesman Geoff Baker said the concert was "a goer" and said there may have been confusion because the contracts between the promoters and Celtic had not been signed.
The confusion over Sir Paul's gig came after it was revealed that Rolling Stones gigs in September at the SECC were also in doubt. An SECC spokeswoman said. "We have had no feedback to say the gig is not going ahead, but we are not in a position to announce ticket details either. We can't comment any further."
UPDATEPromoters flew to Scotland yesterday (April 3) to finalize Sir Paul McCartney's biggest- ever gig in the country. The former Beatle has already begun promoting the concert for 60,000 fans at Celtic Park on May 30. And yesterday, his world tour organizer flew from London to Glasgow to secure the venue.
It will be the first time Sir Paul has played in Scotland for 13 years. The 60-year-old insisted he would not do another world tour without playing in the country which he has made his second home.
Yesterday, his personal spokesman, Geoff Baker, confirmed the gig after suggestions that the show had been "sensationally scrapped."
Speaking yesterday from Antwerp, Belgium, where Macca is on tour, he told the Record, "That would be sensational news to me and sensational news to Paul as well. Our program, which is on sale, says we will be at Celtic Park on May 30. They haven't signed the contract yet. But I know that Barry Marshall, the promoter, is up in Scotland. Sir Paul has been talking about the Celtic Park gig on the BBC and is really looking forward to it. If it is not on then the promoters have not told any of us."
A spokeswoman for promoters Marshall Arts confirmed, "There are negotiations going on and it will probably be sorted out over the weekend."
Sir Paul hopes to find a pipe band to perform "one song that will not be performed elsewhere" on his tour - " Mull of Kintyre."
NOTE: "Mull of Kintyre" was performed in Toronto, Canada (Air Canada Centre) on April 13, 2002 (see the Driving USA Web Page)
Paul said on Australian radio April 3, that for various reasons he won't be touring Australia this year and his tour will finish in Liverpool on June 1st.
Video news clip of Paul onstage in April 1, in Antwerp, Belgium (video starts at 5:27). You will need WindowsMedia Player.
300 tickets for the May 10 private acoustic McCartney concert inside the Colosseum in Rome will be offered by auction online. Highlights of the two Rome concerts (May 10 & 11) will be televised exclusively on "La7" Television in Italy--date to be announced.
Paul McCartney educated his children at the local comprehensive in an effort to keep them 'grounded'. But if his daughter Stella is any indication, his strategy may have backfired. The 30-year-old fashion designer has described the former Beatle as a "tight bastard" for sending her to a school in which she stood out because of her father's wealth and fame.
Asked by an interviewer whether she resented not going to a 'nice' school she said, "Well, I didn't really go around thinking 'what great benefits there are for me in going to a comprehensive.' But I could look after myself. I was a bully for a while. And I was at the same comprehensive from 11 to 17 so I guess people got used to me. But I was a bit ashamed if I missed the bus and had to get dropped off in a nice car. And I think the teachers found it stranger than the kids because they would have known my parents' music."
Asked if she would send any children she might have to a comprehensive she replied, "No!" McCartney, one of four children, has made her name in fashion. After revitalizing the Chloe fashion house in Paris she runs her ownlabel division of Gucci.
She spoke frankly of growing up with her famous father and mother Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998, in an interview with fashion magazine "i-D."
"Part of my problem with my work is because of how I grew up," she said. "I am so paranoid that people don't like me because of my background that I want people to like me. And at work I want to be a nice boss. It doesn't always work to my advantage but I want to be nice to people."
Asked if she could ever lose the feeling of having to prove herself she admitted, "No. I feel unhappy with myself, which is pathetic really."
McCartney also revealed thwarted musical ambition. "I'm really a frustrated musician," she said. "I play a bit of guitar and sing. I always wanted to be a musician but I didn't pursue it because I knew it would be so obvious and easy and didn't want to get pigeonholed. I mean, if I get a hard time doing something completely different to my dad, imagine what would happen if I tried to be a musician?" (Daily Mail )
Former Beatle Paul McCartney said that Liverpool should not just be the capital of culture, but the "capital of the universe."
Liverpool is one of six cities competing for the title of European Capital of Culture 2008. The details of the city's plans for the year - including 50 international festivals and 1,000 community events - were sent to the judges in London on Monday.
Other famous supporters of the city's bid include footballer Michael Owen, Ken Dodd, Willy Russell and Atomic Kitten. The bid was flown on the first leg of its London trip by helicopter.
Proposals include the opening of the Fourth Grace, a museum of comedy unveiled in the city, an archive trail and a Liverpool anthem.
Sir Paul will be returning to his home city on 1 June for a concert at the King's Dock. He said, "Liverpool is most rich in the history of its architecture, music, its politics and much else besides. But most of all, Liverpool is rich in the spirit of its people and for that I support its claim to be not just a cultural capital of Europe, but the capital of the universe."
Liverpool city council leader Mike Storey said he was "delighted" that Sir Paul was backing the city. Councillor Storey added, "We know he has always maintained very strong links with his home city and he clearly recognizes that Liverpool deserves the title. His comments are heartfelt and a big spur for our bid."
UPDATE: Liverpool has won the European Capital of Culture for 2008.
Sir Paul McCartney has been offered £1million ($1.57 million) to perform at the opening of the revamped London Dome. The former Beatle is in talks with owners who want to host a star-studded gig there in 2005.
Anschutz Entertainment Group plans to transform the South East London attraction into a £150million ($235 million), 20,000-capacity gig venue with restaurants, bars and casinos. President Timothy Leweike said, "We have asked Paul to do it and he seemed very keen."
Planners want to keep the Dome's famous tent roof but revamp the interior into a state-of-the-art venue that will hold 200 events a year. Anschutz owns Los Angeles' Kodak Theatre - the Oscars venue - and is behind Celine Dion's Las Vegas show. It also promotes shows for McCartney - along with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
The April issue of Mojo magazine in Britain will be featuring Paul McCartney on their front cover and running an interview entitled 'The Real Paul McCartney'. This issue hits the stands April 15. The interview will continue in the next issue.
Paul McCartney thinks his one-time close friend Michael Jackson is an "unusual guy" and wonders about his parenting skills. During a recent interview with the BBC, McCartney said he felt sorry for Jackson's children, "being brought up under those veils." He said his philosophy about raising children was the opposite of the private, sheltered life of Jackson's two children. McCartney said, "I was keen to send my kids to ordinary school and just throw them into the lion's den."Michael Jackson has e-mailed Paul McCartney, warning him, "Mind your own business about the way I raise my children. I don't need your advice." Insiders say creepy Jacko was furious when Paul stated he pitied the way the kids were forced to wear Spider Man masks. Michael, who's often masked himself, insists he's protecting Prince, 6, and Paris, 4, from both germs and kidnapping. (Launch.com) (more)
Ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, one year into a world tour stretching from the United States to Japan, has been told to keep the volume down when he gets to Rome in May for fear of disturbing the aging Pope.
"We have been advised by Italian contacts that the show could keep His Holiness the Pope up all night," said tour promoter Barrie Marshall. "Obviously, we do not want to cause any offense or sleeplessness to His Holiness and, because of the closeness of the Vatican to the show at the Coliseum, we are now considering our position on performing loud rock songs.""We have been warned," McCartney's spokesman Geoff Baker told Reuters from Barcelona where McCartney has just held the third of the 30-concert European leg of his tour.
Baker said that out of deference for the 82-year-old Pope, McCartney's tour organizers were considering both turning down the volume and removing some of the louder rock n' roll songs from the Beatle-loaded repertoire.
"You can't play 'Back in the USSR' at half volume," he said. "We don't want to tone down the rock and roll element in the set - we reckon the pope may actually enjoy a boogie. But we don't want problems with the neighbors."
Baker said some of the more raucous songs might be replaced by ballads in the concert, due to take place next to the Colosseum on May 11.
The warning, he said, had not come from the Vatican itself but from the tour's promoters in the Italian capital. However, a Reuters reporter in Rome said there had been a number of concerts near the Colosseum, none of which had prompted papal criticism.
McCartney's Back In The World tour began in California on April 1, 2002 and has already traveled through Canada, Mexico and Japan.
The European leg includes France, Spain, Italy, Britain, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Hungary, Austria, the Netherlands and Ireland.
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