Paul McCartney reveals John Lennon's fear at 60 minutes

This is a rock star, a legend of music with dozens of platinum albums – a Beatle. But even after more than 50 years behind the microphone, Paul McCartney still doubts.

"I think if you care about what you do, if you really want to do things right, then you have to deal with insecurities" he tells 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi in the video above. "That's what makes it so good."

In a frank and far-reaching interview this week on 60 minutes, McCartney admits a few things. For starters, he can not read or write music – surprisingly, none of the Beatles did it.

When it comes to managing his celebrity, McCartney says that he will not take a selfie with people who approach him, although he will discuss with them.

Given the number of people who stop him on the street, McCartney must have a lot of discussion.

"No matter how high or high your reputation is, you always worry about things." -Paul Mccartney

"Who's famous for longer than Paul McCartney?" Alfonsi asks Ann Silvio for 60-minute extensions. "He handles it very well, I think a lot of people could learn from the way he handles celebrity."

But one particular admission seems to be becoming a theme throughout the interview: At age 76, Paul McCartney still feels that he has yet to prove himself when the Beatles debut album came out there 55 years ago.

"No matter what your elevation level or your reputation, you always worry about things," McCartney told Alfonsi.

It turns out that McCartney was not the only Beatle to doubt. In the video above, he tells a quiet moment between band members, when John Lennon revealed that he also felt unsure – of his own legacy.

"I remember him one time particularly strangely, unexpectedly, saying," I'm worried about the way people will remember me, "McCartney reveals." And I thought : "John, listen to me, look at me, you will be remembered as one of the greatest people."

As McCartney explains on the show, his friendship with Lennon was complex. Partners in composition since adolescence, they collaborated to create some of the most popular songs. A sense of competition also pushed them to create even more, even though Lennon only once complimented McCartney.

"The relationship was so complicated," said Bill Owens, who produced this week's profile on McCartney. "They needed each other so badly, I think Paul McCartney is the only person who could tell John Lennon" No "or" It does not work. "

Lennon was also able to tell McCartney when his words needed to be tweaked. When McCartney first wrote "I saw her standing there," the original opening sentence was, "She was only 17. She had never been a beauty queen. "

But Lennon was not so sure.

"Then I said," Well, let's change it, "says McCartney.

Lennon also encouraged McCartney to finish a melody that he had begun singing as a teenager. McCartney says that he and George Harrison used to join Lennon for evenings in art schools. To try to look more sophisticated, McCartney says he wore black turtlenecks and sat in a corner, where he scratched a guitar and sang in French. He hoped, unsuccessfully, to impress a girl.

The girl never came, but a new song did it.

"Years later, John said:" Do you remember that crazy little thing in French? " McCartney recalls, "He said," You should finish. "Then I finished it."

This "crazy little thing" became his song "Michelle".

Today, McCartney draws inspiration from the composition of songs at daily events, even when life can leave him feeling confused.

"Sometimes one of the big things [that] motivates a song is anguish, "he told Alfonsi in the clip above." You have just gone through something, like, either very boring or disappointing, or disturbing, or something else. "

On one of these occasions, he sat down at his piano and determined what he was feeling. The result is the song "I do not know," which appears on his new album. He says that this testifies to the fact that his worries and insecurities have still not allowed him to understand things.

"But in a way, it was a good thing, because I was sincere about the crows at the window and the dogs at my door, and that everything was getting a bit difficult," says McCartney. "Then I was able to somehow say it to the piano."

The videos above were produced by Ann Silvio and Lisa Orlando. The video at the top of the page was edited by Lisa Orlando, the integrated videos were edited by Lisa Orlando and Sarah Shafer Prediger.