The story of how Paul McCartney met his first wife Linda

“Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool in 1942 and 25 years later, in 1967, when he was already one of the most successful songwriters of all time, he would meet Linda Eastman, who would be the first love of his life.

One year older than him, she was an American photographer, who already had the chance to photograph many legendary acts in the United States like Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Janis Joplin and more.

But how did Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman first meet each other?

The story of how Paul McCartney met his first wife Linda

Well, Linda Eastman didn’t live in the United Kingdom but had the opportunity to go there in 1967 for a photo assignment and that was when they first met. In an interview in 2001 for the documentary “Wingspan” (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), which was conducted by his daughter Mary McCartney.

“I first met your mother in May 1967 in a club in London called The Bag O’Nails. (Paul was there seeing an artist called Georgie Fame play). I looked over and I saw her. (I thought), oh she looks good. (They kept looking at each other and Paul went to talk to her). I stood up (and then said) ‘Hi, my name is Paul, what’s yours? I didn’t get too deep into what she was (working that night). (But) I knew she was a photographer.

As Paul said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1974, Linda was there with The Animals member Chas Chandler, who was also Jimi Hendrix’s manager. “I think she was down there with Chas Chandler and some other people. I was down there with some friends, including a guy who used to work at the office.”

He continued:

“I was in my little booth and she was in her little booth and we were giving each other the eye you know. Georgie Fame was playing that night and we were both right into Georgie Fame,” Paul McCartney said.

The two met each other again a few days later at the launch party for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at Brian Epstein’s house. They would meet each other again when McCartney and Lennon went to New York to inaugurate Apple Records and that’s when he invited her to go to the United Kingdom to spent some time together.

In the interview with Rolling Stone in 1974, Paul said he realized he wanted to marry her one year later

“About a year later. We both thought it a bit crazy at the time, and we also thought it would be a gas. Linda was a bit dubious, because she had been married before and wasn’t too set on settling.”

“In a way, she thought it tends to blow things, marrying ruins it. But we both fancied each other enough to do it. And now we’re glad we did it, you know. It’s great. I love it,” Paul McCartney said.

Linda continued to work as a photographer but also became a member of Paul McCartney’s post Beatles band, which was called The Wings. Before they got married, Linda already had a daughter called Heather, which was adopted by Paul. She was curiously born in Tucson, Arizona, a city that is mentioned on The Beatles’ classic song “Get Back”.

With Linda, Paul had two daughters: Mary, Stella and one son: James. Linda passed away in 1998 at the age of 56, a victim of breast cancer. Paul would get married again from 2002 to 2008 with the former British model Heather Anne Mills. Since 2011, the Beatle has been married to Nancy Shevell.