Paul McCartney Reveals Why He Believes John Lennon Initially Criticized His Post-Beatles Work

Paul McCartney is opening up about his late pal. Following a Los Angeles screening of the Wings documentary, Man on the Run, McCartney sat down for a conversation with director Morgan Neville and moderator Judd Apatow for a wide-ranging conversation.

After the Beatles split, McCartney formed a duo with his then-wife, Linda, and released an album titled Ram. Shortly thereafter, McCartney started his band, Wings. In both post-Beatles projects, McCartney’s one-time bandmate, John Lennon, was publicly critical.

“I think maybe he expected more from me,” McCartney theorized of Lennon, according to Variety.” He expected something different from me, and I wasn’t doing that. I was just doing ‘madcap.’”

McCartney noted that he “wasn’t privy” to Lennon’s inner thoughts at the time. However, he admitted that he was pleased when Lennon lightened up on the subject before his death.

Paul McCartney Opens Up About John Lennon

Despite the public spat, McCartney said that none of it affected how he felt about Lennon.

“I loved John and love him to this day and always will,” he said. “And it wouldn’t matter, as it didn’t matter, what he said or did, because I’d known him since I was 15, and so he was like this mad guy I knew, and I really looked up to him.”

“I always thought John was very cool, and I still do. But he could be a complete idiot, over some things,” McCartney added. “He was a lovely guy. And the thing is, if you look at his life, there’s reason for him to be crazy. A lot of bad things happened to him… He had a lot of stuff to get out. And comparatively, I was very lucky.”

Though Lennon may have been critical of McCartney’s post-Beatles work, the singer himself said that he’s come to “like that period” of his life.

“It’s a fond memory. It was, what do you do after the Beatles? You know, the Beatles break up, that’s been your only job you’ve ever had, and then you don’t have it anymore. It’s like you got sacked,” he said. “So that was Wings, trying to figure it out.”

Photo by Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images

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