Paul McCartney and John Lennon met each other for the first time when they still were teenagers in the 50s, a few years later they would help to form The Beatles, band that will become the most successful and influential of all time. The two musicians were responsible for most part of the songwriting in the band and have composed almost all the biggest hits the group had. When the band came to an end in 1970 after Lennon decided to leave, all the four members focused on their solo careers or formed a band, like Paul, who created The Wings.
They released very successful solo records with songs that became as big as many composed when they were still playing together. Lennon’s career was tragically cut short when he was killed in 1980 at the age of 40, but his discography left many classic tracks that are still inspiring fans all over the world. Over the decades Paul McCartney was frequently asked about his late bandmate and songwriting partner and he even revealed which is one of Lennon’s solo songs he loves the most.
The John Lennon solo song that Paul McCartney said he loves
The first albums released by John Lennon were experimental records he made with Yoko Ono when The Beatles were still active in the late 60s. But the most remembered one that really marked the beginning of his solo career was “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band” released in 1970. After that successful record, he released other important ones like “Imagine” (1971), “Mind Games” (1973), “Wall and Bridges” (1974), “Rock N’ Roll” (1975) and “Double Fantasy” (1980).
In 1982, two years after Lennon’s passing, Paul McCartney was invited for the BBC Radio show “Desert Island Discs“. In the program the Beatle was asked to choose some songs that he would like to take with him to a desert island. One of the tracks that he picked was from Lennon’s solo career, “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” that he said it was a “beautiful song”.
“I haven’t chosen any Beatle records. I haven’t chosen any of my records. So to sum up the whole thing I’ve chosen one from John Lennon‘s Double Fantasy, which I think is a beautiful song. It’s very moving to me,” Paul McCartney said.
Even almost four decades later, his opinion about that track hasn’t changed. He chose that track as a favorite again in an interview with Adam Buxton in 2020. “(…) Later from his post Beatles work, ‘Beautiful Boy’, about Sean, was, I think, a really great song. Now I can look back on it and think ‘God, what a lovely guy. How privileged was I to run into him in Liverpool’. And I think we’ve both felt the same about each other. Just really quite chance meeting.”
Paul McCartney continued:
“It was through a mate of mine that I met John. But it was by chance. It was no setup. We didn’t go to the same school. But I went to the same school as the guy who introduced us. So thinking back on it, I do think ‘Oh, God, we’re very lucky’. I was thinking the other day, I wish I just sat and hugged him all the time we were together. But as you know, Adam, that probably would be slightly out of line. It’s the kind of thing you think, you know, what about that? But guys didn’t do that kind of thing where I’m from,” Paul McCartney said.
The track “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” that was released on the 1980 album “Double Fantasy”. The song was written by Lennon for his second son Sean, the first with Yoko Ono.
McCartney wrote a song for John Lennon’s first son
Julian Lennon, John’s first son, was born in April 8, 1963, just a few weeks after The Beatles released their debut album “Please Please Me”. At the time Lennon was married to Cynthia Powell, who was Julian’s mothe. They stayed together until 1968 when they divorced.
At the time, seeing Julian’s sadness about everything that was happening, Paul was inspired by the situation. He wrote a song as a message to him that started as “Hey Jules” (Julian’s nickname). Later the track was transformed into “Hey Jude”. It’s one of The Beatles’ most famous songs and it’s part of Paul McCartney’s concerts for decades.
Since Lennon left his first wife, his relationship with Julian wasn’t good. They hardly saw each other or talked on the phone. They would only have more contact when Julian was already a teenager in the mid-70s. He was cut out of his father’s will, but a trust £100,000 was created for him and Sean by John. Julian sued his father’s estate sometime later. So a settlement was made in 1996, authorized by Yoko Ono that reportedly worth £20 million.