At age 80, McCartney shows no signs of slowing down today. He dropped a new solo album, McCartney III, in 2020, and released a bestselling book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, in the fall of 2021. Also in 2021 was the release of the deluxe version of The Beatles’ 1970 Let It Be and director Peter Jackson’s three-part documentary, The Beatles: Get Back. Despite being one of the most famous musicians in the world, McCartney is also a devoted family man who’s managed to keep his life as a husband, dad and grandfather remarkably private. He’s also weathered his share of heartbreak and relationship turmoil—but in “The End,” the love he’s got with wife Nancy Shevell is all he needs. Here’s a look at Paul McCartney’s marriage and family history.
Is Paul McCartney married and who is his current wife?
Naturally, the “Cute Beatle” is taken. In 2011, Paul McCartney married Shevell after the two dated for nearly four years. It was his third marriage overall. In 1969, he wed Linda Eastman, and the pair remained happily married until she passed away in 1998 from breast cancer. McCartney then tied the knot with Heather Mills in 2002, but the couple separated in 2006 and were divorced in 2008.
When did Paul McCartney meet Linda?
As McCartney put it in 2008, “There was an immediate attraction between us” when he met photographer Eastman in the spring of 1967 at the London nightclub Bag O’ Nails. Despite being super-famous, he tried to play it cool. “‘My name’s Paul. What’s yours?’” McCartney reportedly asked her, as he once wrote in The Sunday Times Magazine. “I think she probably recognized me. It was so corny, but I told the kids later that, had it not been for that moment, none of them would be here." The pair reconnected in 1968 in New York City—and by the fall of that year, they were an official romantic item.
When did Paul McCartney marry Linda?
McCartney married Eastman at Old Marylebone Town Hall in London, on March 12, 1969. The wedding drew intense press attention: Photographers swarmed the couple as they kissed. While the scene seemed idyllic, McCartney later admitted things weren’t quite so rosy. “We had a big argument the night before we got married and it was nearly called off,” McCartney said in Barry Miles’ book Many Years From Now. “We were very up and down, quite funky compared to the eventual image of ‘Twenty-five years of married bliss! Aren’t they lucky for people in showbiz?’ But we are.” Absent from the nuptials were his buds in the Beatles, which he said was a reflection of the band’s fraught relationships at the time. “I really don’t remember whether or not I invited any of the band to the wedding,” he said in Many Years From Now. “Why not? I’m a total bastard, I suppose–I don’t know, really. Maybe it was because the group was breaking up. We were all pissed off with each other. We certainly weren’t a gang any more. That was the thing. Once a group’s broken up like that, that’s it.”
Does Paul McCartney have children?
Yes, McCartney has five kids. When he married Linda, Paul adopted her 6-year-old daughter, Heather, from her previous marriage to Joseph Melville. He and Linda also had three kids together. Their oldest, photographer Mary McCartney, was born in 1969 and appeared in an adorable photo included in the album art for McCartney’s 1970 self-titled solo debut. Stella McCartney, who’s a world-renowned, eco-conscious fashion designer, followed. James McCartney came next, and has followed in his dad’s musical footsteps. Despite growing up with famous parents, Stella said she had a surprisingly normal childhood. “It sounds silly, but I didn’t have a huge amount of money as a kid," Stella once told Porter. “My mum and dad were really clever; I went to a comprehensive [school] and I wasn’t given a load of cash, so I would go to vintage and secondhand shops and markets to buy clothes.” McCartney and ex-wife Mills also had a child, Beatrice, who was born in 2003 and has largely shied away from the spotlight.
Does Paul McCartney have grandchildren?
McCartney has a whole brood of them! In fact, during the pandemic-related lockdown, he hunkered down at his East Sussex farm with daughter, Mary, and her four kids: Arthur, 23, Elliot, 20, Sam, 14, and Sid, 11. Stella also has four kids with husband Alasdhair Willis: 17-year-old Miller, 15-year-old Bailey, 14-year-old Beckett and 11-year-old Reiley. In a case of art imitating life, McCartney has put his experience as a grandfather (and writer) to good use: He’s written two children’s picture books, 2019’s Hey Grandude! and 2021’s Grandude’s Green Submarine, following the adventures of an inventive family.
Was Linda McCartney related to Eastman Kodak?
It would be a great story, considering that Linda McCartney was a photographer, but there’s no relation between her and Eastman Kodak, the legendary camera and photography brand founded by George Eastman.
Why did Paul McCartney and Linda divorce?
Paul and Linda never divorced. In fact, the two were happily married until Linda died of breast cancer at age 56 on April 17, 1998. In addition to raising a large family together, the pair shared a love of vegetarian food, animal rights and environmental issues. Their relationship was also rather low-key. “When we went for a drive, Linda always wanted to get lost,” McCartney recalled in 2008 in The Sunday Times Magazine. “We would go down to the most obscure places, have a great time, find a little tearoom or a riverbank. She taught me little things like that, to relax and be down to earth." In Many Years From Now, McCartney also alluded to their happy relationship despite occasional turbulence: “You get this picture of us swanning along in a little rowboat managing to avoid the white water, but we were right in the middle of that white water, man, so it’s even more miraculous that we made it. But we did.”
Who did Paul McCartney marry after Linda?
About a year after Linda died, Paul met model and activist Mills on May 20, 1999, at a Pride of Britain Awards event at the Dorchester Hotel. That fall, Mills and her sister, Fiona, recorded a charity single, “VO!CE,” that McCartney also sang on. The couple had a whirlwind romance starting in 2000 and were engaged by July 2001. “When I proposed I was a bit nervous, but I managed,” he told reporters, as noted by the BBC. “We’ve had a good reception from relatives and friends and from the media.” Mills sported a sapphire and diamond ring McCartney picked up on a trip to India.
When did Paul McCartney marry Heather Mills?
In 2002, McCartney and Mills threw a huge wedding bash that was said to cost $3.2 million. Held in a Monaghan, Ireland, church dating back to the 17th century, the star-studded affair—guests included Elton John, Ringo Starr, David Gilmour and Chrissie Hynde—boasted a vegetarian menu and lavish touches, like a bouquet featuring 11 pink roses named after McCartney. The couple had daughter Beatrice in 2003. However, the marriage wasn’t meant to be. The pair announced their split in 2006 in a joint statement. “Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways,” they said. “Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much but have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives, and we have actively tried to protect the privacy of our child.” Over the next few years, however, the divorce played out in the tabloids, and contained plenty of mudslinging and messy accusations. In 2008, Mills received a £24.3m (or $48.6M USD) divorce payout from McCartney.
When did Paul McCartney meet Nancy Shevell?
It’s unclear how and when McCartney and Shevell met. The couple allegedly knew each other because both had houses in the Hamptons. However, they officially met (and sparked a romance) thanks to legendary news anchor Barbara Walters, who just so happens to be Shevell’s second cousin. “Barbara was her emotional confidante and played matchmaker,” a source told The Observer. “She gave numerous dinner parties for them and always made sure to invite people she knew that Paul would want to meet.” Shevell’s background is decidedly non-musical: Born in New Jersey, her dad owned a trucking company. She followed in his transportation-loving footsteps, joining the family business and later serving on the board of the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
When did Paul McCartney marry Nancy Shevell?
The couple’s engagement went public in 2011; McCartney gave her a 1925 Cartier solitaire diamond engagement ring. McCartney and Shevell tied the knot on October 9, 2011, at Old Marylebone Town Hall in London. The venue held special meaning for Paul: It was the same place where he married Linda back in 1969. (Incidentally, Beatles bandmate Starr—who attended the ceremony—also wed wife Barbara Bach there in 1981.)
Who was Paul McCartney’s first girlfriend?
McCartney was always popular with the ladies. As a child, he had a girlfriend named Layla. Much later, as stardom beckoned with the Beatles, he was engaged to fellow Liverpool native Dot Rhone and actress Jane Asher. Next, How Much Do You Know About the Beatles? Take our quiz and find out!
