List of songs recorded by Paul McCartney

This article is about songs recorded by McCartney as a solo artist and as a member of Wings and the Fireman. For songs he recorded with the Beatles, see List of songs recorded by the Beatles.
Paul McCartney holding a guitar on stage
Paul McCartney performing in 2018

Paul McCartney is an English musician who has recorded hundreds of songs over his career of more than sixty years. As a member of the Beatles, he formed a songwriting partnership with his bandmate John Lennon that became the most celebrated in music history.[1] Some of McCartney's famous Beatles compositions include "Hey Jude", "Penny Lane", "Let It Be" and "Yesterday",[2] the last of which being one of the most covered songs of all time.[3] After the band's break-up, he recorded his 1970 lo-fi album McCartney,[4] which he composed and performed alone,[5] containing songs including "Maybe I'm Amazed".[6] It was followed by his first solo single, "Another Day", and Ram (1971), which he recorded with wife Linda McCartney.[7]

For the remainder of the 1970s, McCartney released music with the rock band Wings, recording many of his well-known songs, including "Live and Let Die", "Jet", "Band on the Run", "Listen to What the Man Said", "Silly Love Songs", "Let 'Em In" and "Mull of Kintyre".[8] Wings went through numerous line-up changes, but were primarily composed of the core trio of the McCartneys and English musician Denny Laine.[7] Before the break-up of Wings in 1981, McCartney recorded the 1979 Christmas song "Wonderful Christmastime" and his second solo album, McCartney II (1980), which showcased a new wave, synth-pop and electronica style, evident on "Coming Up" and "Temporary Secretary".[9][10] Like his first solo album, he composed and performed it alone.[11] In 2020, McCartney released McCartney III, which he composed, performed and produced alone, like its two predecessors.[12]

Following the break-up of Wings, McCartney released his third solo album, Tug of War, in 1982, which featured contributions from Stevie Wonder ("Ebony and Ivory" and "What's That You're Doing") and Carl Perkins ("Get It") and the song "Here Today",[13] a tribute to former Beatle John Lennon after his murder in December 1980.[14][15] Around this time, McCartney collaborated with Michael Jackson on "The Girl Is Mine" from Jackson's 1982 album Thriller[16] and again a year later on "Say Say Say" and "The Man" on McCartney's album Pipes of Peace.[17] His next single, "No More Lonely Nights", featured a guitar solo from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.[18] Other individuals with whom McCartney has collaborated include English producer Hugh Padgham (Press to Play),[19] English musicians Elvis Costello (Flowers in the Dirt)[20] and Jeff Lynne (Flaming Pie),[21] American producer David Kahne (Driving Rain and Memory Almost Full),[22] and English producer Nigel Godrich (Chaos and Creation in the Backyard).[23] In the 2010s, McCartney has recorded music with American rapper Kanye West ("Only One", "FourFiveSeconds" with Rihanna, and "All Day"),[24][25][26] the surviving members of Nirvana[a] ("Cut Me Some Slack"),[27] and American producers Greg Kurstin and Ryan Tedder (Egypt Station).[28]

In addition to writing his own songs, McCartney has recorded cover versions of songs throughout his career, most notably on CHOBA B CCCP (1988),[29] Run Devil Run (1999),[30] and Kisses on the Bottom (2012).[31] He also produced Thrillington, an instrumental cover album of Ram in the jazz and lounge genres under the name Percy "Thrills" Thrillington.[32][33] In addition to rock and pop music, McCartney has experimented with different genres since the 1990s. He has released five albums in the classical music genre, beginning in 1991 with Liverpool Oratorio[34] up until 2011's Ocean's Kingdom, based on the ballet of the same name;[7] he experimented with orchestral music on Working Classical (1999) with the London Symphony Orchestra.[35] He collaborated with producer Youth under the name the Fireman, recording three electronica albums: Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (1993),[36] Rushes (1998)[37] and Electric Arguments (2008).[38] Another electronica release was Liverpool Sound Collage (2000) with Super Furry Animals and Youth.[39] McCartney also wrote and performed "Hope for the Future", the ending song for the 2014 video game Destiny.[40][41]

  1. ^ Newman, Jason (23 August 2011). "It Takes Two: 10 Songwriting Duos That Rocked Music History". Billboard. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2019. By any measure, no one comes close to matching the success of the Beatles' primary songwriters.
  2. ^ Harry 2002, p. 3.
  3. ^ Lifton, Dave (14 June 2019). "50 Wildly Diverse Covers of the Beatles' 'Yesterday'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  4. ^ Day, Brent (26 October 2005). "Paul McCartney Walks the Fine Line Between Chaos and Creation". Paste. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  5. ^ Harry 2002, pp. 556–563.
  6. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "McCartney – Paul McCartney". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Paul McCartney – Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  8. ^ Carlin 2009, pp. 229, 234, 242, 250, 252.
  9. ^ Carlin 2009, pp. 253–254.
  10. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "McCartney II – Paul McCartney". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  11. ^ Harry 2002, p. 578.
  12. ^ Sheffield, Rob (17 December 2020). "Paul McCartney Delivers a Playful Gem with 'McCartney III'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  13. ^ Harry 2002, p. 311.
  14. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 261.
  15. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Tug of War – Paul McCartney". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  16. ^ Harry 2002, pp. 361–362.
  17. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Pipes of Peace – Paul McCartney". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  18. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Give My Regards to Broad Street – Paul McCartney". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  19. ^ Carlin 2009, pp. 268–269.
  20. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Flowers in the Dirt – Paul McCartney". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  21. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 306.
  22. ^ Carlin 2009, pp. 323, 333.
  23. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 330.
  24. ^ Markman, Rob. "Kanye West Drops New Song For The New Year: Listen To 'Only One'". MTV. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  25. ^ White, Caitlin (25 January 2015). "Rihanna Dropped Her New Song With Kanye And Paul McCartney—Hear 'FourFiveSeconds'". MTV News. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  26. ^ "Kanye West – "All Day" (Feat. Allan Kingdom, Theophilus London, & Paul McCartney)". Stereogum. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2015.
  27. ^ Greenburg, Zack O'Malley (5 February 2014). "Grunge Beatle: How Paul McCartney Ended Up In A Nirvana Reunion". Forbes. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  28. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (11 September 2018). "Paul McCartney: Egypt Station Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  29. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 283.
  30. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 312–314.
  31. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Kisses on the Bottom – Paul McCartney". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  32. ^ Ingham 2006, p. 152.
  33. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Thrillington – Percy Thrillington". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  34. ^ Harry 2002, pp. 526–528.
  35. ^ Harry 2002, pp. 710–711.
  36. ^ Harry 2002, pp. 332–334.
  37. ^ Harry 2002, p. 770.
  38. ^ Sounes 2010, p. 559.
  39. ^ Harry 2002, pp. 528–529.
  40. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (7 July 2012). "Paul McCartney working with Bungie". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  41. ^ "Destiny End Credits Easter Egg reveals Paul McCartney's Song Hope for the Future". Gamespot. 11 September 2014. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.


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