“Love is all you need.”

–Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney was born today in Liverpool, England in 1942. He is 70 years old.

McCartney is a singer/songwriter/musician who, along with John Lennon, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe, and Pete Best formed the Beatles in 1960. The fledgling band did a tour in Hamburg, Germany and performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, but it wasn’t until Sutcliffe left and Ringo Starr replaced Best on drums that the Beatles popularity really began to take hold. In October of 1962 they released “Love Me Do”  (… and we did.)

Working as a song writing team (at least in name) Lennon and McCarney produced an unprecidented string of hits that became the soundtrack of a generation with “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Paperback Writer,” “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “A Day in the Life,” “Hey Jude,” “Get Back,”  “Let It Be,”  “The Long and Winding Road” and, of course, “Lovely Rita.” McCarney’s “Yesterday” is the most recorded cover song in history.

When the Beatles broke up McCartney started a new band with his wife Linda McCartney and Denny Laine. Although not as wildly successful as the Beatles, WINGS had a strong run in the pop charts from 1970 – 1981. Some of the band’s hits include  “Uncle Albert,” “My Love,” “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “Mull of Kintyre,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Listen to What the Man Said,” “Coming Up,” and “With a Little Luck.”

His solo work includes “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Here Today,” “Another Day,” and “No More Lonely Nights.”

Paul McCartney live in Barton, England on June 13, 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)