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Beatles legend Paul McCartney opens with the end of the rock band’s long, winding road.
In an upcoming episode of BBC Radio 4’s “This Cultural Life”, the veteran singer-songwriter spoke of the group’s heartbreaking breakup, which has been pinned down largely to McCartney in the past.
But according to a preview of the episode released by The Guardian on Sunday, McCartney remembers what he called “the most difficult time of my life” a little differently.
“I was not the cause of the split,” the British musician told the BBC.
“It was [John Lennon] come one day and say: “I’m leaving the group”.
After 10 years, 14 studio albums, countless sold-out concerts and dozens of now classic hits, McCartney, Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr went their separate ways in April 1970, after McCartney left the group publicly.
“I had to live with it because that was what people saw,” recalls McCartney, now 79. “All I could do is say no.”
But when he was recently informed of his decision to leave The Beatles, McCartney ordered BBC Radio 4’s John Wilson to “stop there” before setting the record straight.
John walked into a room one day and said, ‘I’m leaving the Beatles,’ said McCartney. ‘Is that the instigator of the split, or not?’
After Lennon’s internal statement, McCartney claims, the remaining band members were “left to pick up the pieces” and advised by their new manager, Allen Klein, to keep their impending disbandment a secret while he worked out some details.
“[F]or a few months we had to pretend, ”McCartney told Wilson, according to the Guardian. “It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles but we couldn’t just walk away.”
In the end, McCartney was the first to “let the cat out of the bag” by going solo – “because I was sick of hiding it” – and therefore incurred most of the blame.
McCartney surmised that Lennon – who had “always wanted to break away from society” – was ready to move on from his rock star days and settle in with his wife, Japanese artist Yoko Ono.
“Back then we had small meetings and it was awful,” McCartney continued.
“It was the opposite of who we were. We were musicians, we didn’t meet people.
While McCartney maintains that Lennon and Ono “were a great couple” and doesn’t blame the latter for the fallout, he believes the band “could” have continued to make music together for quite some time if his late partner writing had decided to stay.
“It was my band, it was my job, it was my life, so I wanted to keep it going,” he said.
McCartney’s full appearance in “This Cultural Life” will air on October 23 on BBC Radio 4.
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