Paul McCartney claims he’s cut down on his drinking to just one “big glass” of wine a week. The old timer says he can’t party like he used to! The Beatles star is a grandad to eight kids, and in an interview with Mojo, discussed the apparent bender he went on after the Fab Four split in the 1970’s.
Sir Paul says he spent many days hammered drunk while working on the beginning of his soon to be successful solo career. He references his boozy past on a new track, ‘Happy With You,’ in which he croons the lyrics, “I used to drink too much/Forget to come home.”
McCartney spoke of how money worries led to a difficult time and he used booze to medicate, “I did used to get stoned and wasted… most particularly in the period right after The Beatles. I was bummed out and in the middle of this horrendous s**t, where someone was going to take every penny we’d ever made.
“That wasn’t easy and led to a very difficult time in my life. I definitely self-medicated there and drank more than I ever had and probably more than I ever have since. But you go through it.” While skirting closely to having a problem, McCartney says he’s grateful he didn’t become an alcoholic after seeing his bandmate Ringo Starr struggle with addiction.
“I’ve got a lot of friends who are sober, ‘cos they have to be. Like Ringo, Joe Walsh. Because they just took it too far. When we were growing up, everyone would be going to the pub and drinking but mostly it all seemed quite jolly. But when I talk to Ringo about it, he says, ‘No, if you give me vodka, I would have to finish the bottle’.”
Macca also believes it’s not the best look for grandad to be drinking heavily and smoking a joint, “I’ve got eight grandchildren. I haven’t got the time. Grandad can’t just be sitting in his armchair with a great big doobie on and a bottle of tequila.”
Meanwhile, Ringo Starr has always been quite open about his tussles with the sauce. In an interview with The Express in 2010, the musician said his addictions escalated in the mid-70s, to the point where he was consuming 16 bottles of wine a day.
‘I’ve got photographs of me playing all over the world but I’ve absolutely no memory of it,’ he said. ‘I played Washington with the Beach Boys – or so they tell me. But there’s only a photo to prove it.’ Ringo Starr recently guested on Dan Rather’s chat show to be aired on October 2nd.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon, 1964 pic.twitter.com/3ykVSynJB6
— History In Pictures (@HistoryInPix) November 21, 2014 Hoy cumple 74 años la leyenda viviente, Sir #PaulMcCartney
En Vega 4 Retro, nuestro homenajehttps://t.co/eIMorhWiHW pic.twitter.com/ulYUbot5DT
— Vega Radio (@vegaradio) June 18, 2016
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