EXCLUSIVE: Paul McCartney Reveals How Linda Saved Him After Beatles Split
Paul McCartney has revealed how wife Linda saved him as he struggled emotionally after the Beatles split.
Aug. 17 2026, Published 7:30 a.m. ET
In late 1969, Paul McCartney was reeling from the impending breakup of the Beatles, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
John Lennon had left the group, and while they'd kept it quiet, McCartney packed up his family and retreated to a remote Scottish farmhouse.
Paul McCartney retreated to Scotland with his family after John Lennon left the Beatles in 1969.
"He is not wanting to get out of bed and drinking way too much once he did get out of bed," said biographer Allan Kozinn.
"He's completely depressed. He had been in the Beatles his whole adult life. It was the only job he knew."
Suddenly, Kozinn said, "Paul had a lot of self-doubt."It was the darkest time in Paul's life to that point. "I didn't know what to do at all," the iconic singer recalled. "How could anything I do be as good as the Beatles?" As he sunk into sadness, "that left [wife] Linda with the job of trying to bring him back to life," said Kozinn, coauthor of the book The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969-73.
"Linda's got these two kids, and they're in the middle of Scotland in a ramshackle farmhouse, and she's trying to hold it all together." Fortunately, she succeeded.
The pair had married in 1969, and their first of three girls, Mary, was born later that year. While Linda, a photographer and mother to 6-year-old Heather from a previous relationship, understood McCartney's distress, she brought a no-nonsense attitude to their new situation.
Linda McCartney encouraged her husband to pursue a solo career as he struggled with the Beatles' breakup.
According to Kozinn, Linda told McCartney: "Wait a minute. You're one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century and you're a great bass player, you have a voice that people will kill for, why is this a problem? Why can't you just go out on your own?"
McCartney was worried, however, that he'd be blamed for the Fab Four's breakup. "I kind of bought into that a little bit," he admitted later, "and although I knew it wasn't true, it affected me enough to be unsure of myself."
Linda urged him forward. "Paul has an artistic side that isn't levelheaded, and I like that," Linda said. "His mind is amazing." Her dedication and his talent slowly revived his confidence.
"He came back from that trip to Scotland with 1.5 songs to start his first solo album," Kozinn said, although "it wasn't until he was well into the middle of the album that he came up with Maybe I'm Amazed."
Linda Inspired McCartney’s Greatest Songs
Biographer Allan Kozinn said Paul wrote 'Maybe I'm Amazed' while working on his first solo album.
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Named one of the 500 greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone, he wrote it, and many others, about Linda. "That was my feeling," he said of Amazed. "Maybe I'm a man, and maybe you're the only woman who could ever help me."
After releasing his debut solo album, McCartney, in 1970, McCartney formed Wings – but he still needed Linda's support. "He wanted her to be in his band, and she wasn't really a musician," said Kozinn. "He wanted her with him all the time. They did everything together."
Their partnership and marriage flourished for close to 30 years; Linda died of cancer in 1998. Today, McCartney, 84, is happily remarried to Nancy Shevell, 66, and is still going strong. He recently released his latest studio album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, and even reportedly performed at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's star-studded wedding reception on July 3.
"I've had a great time," McCartney said. "Even the bad times have turned out for the best in the end."
