by Best Classic Bands Staff
Paul McCartney is the subject of a new book by famed photographer Harry Benson, timed for the legend’s 80th birthday. The title, Paul, arrives July 26, 2022 via premium publisher Taschen. (The book was published in the UK on June 1. McCartney reached the historic anniversary on June 18.)
From the announcement: Benson began photographing McCartney in 1964, when The Beatles took America by storm, toured the world and made their film debut with A hard day’s Night. The legendary photojournalist was there to document it all. When the Fab Four ended, it was Benson who had intimate access to Paul and his wife Linda, as McCartney forged a new path, creatively and personally.
Comprising over 100 color and black and white images, this collection is a window into the life of one of the world’s best-known artists.
Through Benson’s lens, Paul traces the evolution of its namesake from performer to icon, father and husband. We see the young musician at the height of his glory with the Beatles, in the recording studio with Linda and their group Wings, with his family, backstage and on stage during the “Wings Over America” tour of 1975-1976, partying with the stars and on the couple’s quiet farmhouse in the UK in the early 1990s.
A double page spread from Harry Benson’s Paul book
Glasgow-born Benson has photographed every US president since Eisenhower, the civil rights movement, and was next to Robert Kennedy when he was assassinated. He has also photographed some of the greatest personalities of the past 50 years, including Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Her Majesty The Queen.
He was under contract with LIFE Magazine from 1970 to 2000. His photographs appeared in major magazines including vanity lounge, Architectural Summary, Time, Newsweek, Paris Matchand The London Sunday Times magazine. In 2009, he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE).
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