Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Bad luck, One Direction: Paul McCartney doubts success of The Beatles will ever be matched again

'Name me another group of four chaps or chapesses who had what we had'

Jess Denham
Friday 03 July 2015 05:26 EDT
Comments
Paul McCartney (L) with The Beatles on 19 May 1967, just after recording ‘Sgt Pepper’
Paul McCartney (L) with The Beatles on 19 May 1967, just after recording ‘Sgt Pepper’ (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Harry Styles might have claimed that One Direction are "even bigger" than The Beatles, but Paul McCartney vehemently disagrees that any modern band will ever take his band's crown.

The British singer and former Beatle, 73, believes the "Yellow Submarine" gang rose to global fame because they wrote their own music.

"We came out of a very rich period but let's not forget, those four boys were f**king good," he told Esquire magazine. "Name me another group of four chaps or chapesses who had what The Beatles had. Lennon's skill, intelligence, acerbic wit, McCartney's melody, whatever he's got, Harrison's sprituality, Ringo's spirit of fun, great drumming.

"We all played, which is pretty hard. You don't get a lot of that these days. We wrote some pretty good stuff, our own material. We didn't have writers."

The Beatles formed in Liverpool in 1960 and went on to become one of the most iconic and influential bands in the history of music.

"Could that happen again? I don't know," McCartney said. "I wish people well but I have a feeling it couldn't."

One Direction recreate The Beatles' Abbey Road album cover
One Direction recreate The Beatles' Abbey Road album cover

Styles said last February that his experience of touring with mega famous boy band 1D was comparable to that of The Beatles decades beforehand.

"Stepping off the plane, the girls, the madness, it was exactly the same as when we got there - just 50 years earlier," he said, before quickly adding: "But none of us think we're in the same league as them music-wise. We'd be total fools if we did. Fame-wise it's probably even bigger, but we don't stand anywhere near them in terms of music."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in