McCartney

by Christopher Sandford

Revised and Updated

The eye-opening account of the Beatle who changed the shape of music, from his youth in Liverpool through the much-publicized dissolution of his marriage to Heather Mills

Between 1962 and 1970, Paul McCartney--the cute Beatle--did the following: sold 140 million albums throughout the world; co-authored with John Lennon twenty-six US and UK number one singles; recorded arguably the best rock album to date (Revolver), then took the whole thing to a pinnacle (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). As a member of the most important rock band ever, Paul McCartney convinced millions of fans to pick up electric guitars and others to denounce him as a degenerate--or worse. He helped usher in the Love Generation, took a personal stance on the "drug problem," and left the world dumbfounded when the Fab Four called it quits in the early seventies. However, to this day McCartney remains one of the most beloved and respected of musicians, not to mention the biggest box office draw in the world.

McCartney--drawing on dozens of original sources from court documents and files to interviews with members of Paul's family and colleagues--is a tale of self-destruction and epic excess as well as creative genius and brilliant music. The Beatles' bloody infighting, the sex, the drugs, and McCartney's extraordinary marriages are revealed here in full. McCartney is the definitive biography, charting not only the pop legend, but the man and his era.

"Sandford brings impressive skill to this portrait of Sir Paul McCartney . . . well researched and clearly written . . . Highly recommended."
--Library Journal

"Terrific stuff. If you only read one book about our Paul and the Beatles, this is it."
--Angie McCartney

Christopher Sandford is a veteran music, film, and sports writer, and the author of sixteen books, including the critically acclaimed McQueen and Keith Richards: Satisfaction. His biography of Kurt Cobain, reissued by Carroll & Graf in 2004, is currently in development to be made into a movie. His books have been sold to fifteen countries and have featured on both British and American bestseller lists. In 2005, the UK's national (GCSE) school examiners chose an excerpt from his Bowie: Loving the Alien as a set text. Sandford is married with one son, and lives in London and the Pacific Northwest.