Sir Paul McCartney faced the specter of “big guilt” if he hadn’t reconciled with John Lennon before the tragic murder of the rock icon. On December 8, 1980, Lennon was fatally shot by a deranged fan, Mark Chapman, outside his New York home at the tender age of 40. The Beatles disbanded in 1969, and legal disputes over the band’s catalog strained the relationship between the once close songwriting partners.
However, they managed to reconnect in the mid-1970s, rekindling their friendship at Lennon’s New York residence, shared with his second wife, Yoko Ono. McCartney, now 81, confesses that if they hadn’t shared those moments, he would have been tormented by Lennon’s death. He said, “It was super, super painful; there was a lot of emotional navigation to be done.”
Fortunately, they mended fences and discussed matters as mundane as baking bread. McCartney’s reconciliation with Lennon was a source of solace when his friend was tragically murdered.
Speaking on the A Life In Lyrics podcast, he shared, “You’ve got to remember I sued him in court, I sued his friends from Liverpool, life-long friends, in court. There’s a lot of getting over that has to be done.” The legal wrangling led to a flurry of barbed songs, such as McCartney’s “Too Many People” and Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep?”
The rift also divided the other Beatles, with Ringo Starr and George Harrison initially siding with Lennon and his manager, Alan Klein, against McCartney. Ultimately, McCartney’s decision to oust the unscrupulous manager proved right, and the other Beatles eventually concurred.
Reflecting on those challenging times, McCartney recounted the pivotal moment when he decided to sue his friend. Lennon had met with Alan Klein and announced he was leaving the group, potentially handing control of the Beatles’ empire to Klein.
Paul McCartney knew this was a detrimental idea and had to fight to preserve his and his bandmates’ share. In the end, he not only protected his part of The Beatles but also theirs, earning their later gratitude.
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