Paul McCartney Reflects on 'Hurtful' Feud with Bandmate John Lennon: 'Sticking Little Daggers in Me'

The Beatles members argued over previous business dealings, leading to a "painful period" in their friendship

NEED TO KNOW

• Paul McCartney reflected on his friendship with John Lennon and the business disputes that strained their bond
• McCartney shared how he and Lennon reconciled in 1975, rebuilding their relationship through everyday conversations about family life
• Lennon later acknowledged McCartney was right about their management disputes, which McCartney said was validating to hear

Paul McCartney is looking back on his friendship with the late John Lennon, including the business disputes that drove a wedge between them during the final years of The Beatles.

When asked whether he feels a responsibility to represent his former bandmate "in the right way" when discussing Lennon publicly after his death in 1980, McCartney, 83, said he doesn't think of it in those terms. "I suppose so. I never think of it like that," McCartney said in an interview with NME published on Thursday, June 4.

The tensions between McCartney and Lennon were rooted in the battle over the Beatles' management. While McCartney favored his father-in-law, entertainment lawyer Lee Eastman, the rest of the band backed businessman Allen Klein. McCartney ultimately refused to sign Klein's contracts, believing that they were unfair — a stance that contributed to the growing divisions that eventually led to the band's breakup. 

Reflecting on that period, McCartney pointed to a lyric from his recent song "Days We Left Behind."

"In one of the songs, ‘Days We Left Behind,' I talk about ‘we met at Forthlin Road,' which is where I used to live in Liverpool, and 'we wrote a secret code to never be spoken,'" McCartney told NME.

Despite the public disagreements, McCartney said his memories of Lennon remain "very good."

"I don't feel like I have to be respectful," he said. "He's just a mate – it's just this guy who I met, and we wrote songs together, so I don't feel a sense of responsibility. I hope it is responsible."

McCartney admitted Lennon's criticism was difficult to handle at the time.

"It was very hurtful, like sticking little daggers in me," said McCartney. "It was just annoying, because you thought, ‘I've got to answer him back, what am I going to do?' But I suddenly realized, ‘Wait a minute, this is John. This is the guy I've known since I was 16. That's just what he does.' It didn't sting so much once I realized it was just John being John."

The Beatles legend also emphasized how "important" it was that the two men eventually repaired their friendship. McCartney and Lennon reconciled around 1975, shortly after the birth of Lennon's younger son, Sean Ono Lennon. Their renewed bond was built on everyday conversations about family life, parenting, and even baking bread.

"I was lucky because we'd been separated because of the business trouble and stuff, and John eventually came round to my way of thinking that the guy they wanted to bring in [Allen Klein] was a crook," McCartney recalled. "I'd suffered because they all thought I was the nutter, I was the crook."

What meant the most, McCartney told NME, was hearing Lennon acknowledge that he may have been right all along.

"It was good to hear John say, ‘I think Paul might have been right' begrudgingly," McCartney said. "He wasn't one to say, ‘Yeah, you know what Paul told me…!' He was like, “Yeah, he was right.' So that made it much better.

Looking back, McCartney believes the hurtful chapter was ultimately unnecessary. "Even though it was a painful period, we kinda had to go through it, or someone would have robbed us," he said.

McCartney recently announced a special live conversation event discussing his latest solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lake, which was released on May 29. It will take place in London at Camden's Roundhouse on June 10, 2026. 

Alongside stories from making the record, McCartney will discuss his first meeting with producer Andrew Watt in 2021, the album's creative development, and what it was like recording a duet with former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr.

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