But despite this success, Wings have always been widely ridiculed. And now it appears that Sir Paul agrees with his critics.
Speaking to broadcaster John Wilson in front of an audience that included Brad Pitt, James Bay and Paul Weller at the BBC's Maida Vale studios, McCartney said:
"We were terrible. We weren't a good group. People said, 'Well, Linda can't play keyboards', and it was true. But you know, Lennon couldn't play guitar when we started. We knew Linda couldn't play, we didn't know each other, but we learned. We had some funny experiences. Looking back on it, I'm really glad we did it."
"It was very depressing. You were breaking from your lifelong friends, we used to liken it to the army - we had been army buddies for a few years, and now you weren't going to see them again.
"People said to me, 'Get a big supergroup with loads of stars,' but for some mad reason I wanted to go back to square one and do it as we did in The Beatles,"
McCartney explained that the band helped him out of feeling "depressed" after the break-up of The Beatles in 1970. "I was depressed," he said. "It was very depressing. You were breaking from your lifelong friends, we used to liken it to the army – we had been army buddies for a few years, and now you weren't going to see them again.""Not knowing if I was going to continue with music, that was depressing." "So I took to the bevvies. I took to a wee dram. It was great at first, then I was a bit far gone. Suddenly I wasn’t having a good time, it wasn't working.
Recently A pre-production copy of the Beatles’ 1966 album Yesterday … And Today, complete with hand-drawn artwork by John Lennon, has been ranked as the “rarest Beatles record in the world” by the auction site Heritage.
A short-sleeve knit sweater worn by Paul McCartney, a suit jacket worn by George Harrison and a pair of suit pants worn by Ringo Starr are up for sale through Heritage Auctions.