Courtesy of BillboardPaul McCartney was interviewed for the cover story of the latest issue of Billboard, which celebrates the publication’s 125th anniversary. In the article, the ex-Beatles legend discusses a wide range of topics, including his old band’s massive success, a new Fab Four-related project and much more.
In conjunction with Billboard‘s 125th anniversary, the magazine compiled a new list of the Top 125 Artists of All Time based on chart success, and The Beatles took the top spot. Asked how he felt about the achievement, McCartney responds, “That’s fantastic. They were a great group.”
He also notes that one of the aspects of The Beatles that propelled them to succeed was the band members’ competitiveness, as well as their interest in “trying to get better and develop.”
Paul further explains, “That was the force behind The Beatles: We’d do one song, and it’d be a hit, and instead of doing another with the same formula, we’d say, ‘OK, we’ve done that.’ You listen to The Beatles’ output and no two songs are alike.”
McCartney also shares an update about the new film being put together with unused footage shot for the 1970 Beatles flick Let It Be.
“The director [Peter Jackson] tells me that the overall impression is of friends working together,” Paul said of the new flick, “whereas because it was so close to The Beatles’ breakup, my impression of the film was of a sad moment.”
He adds, “It won’t be called Let It Be, but there will be something [coming out].”
Meanwhile, McCartney reveals that he’s in the process of finalizing a deal in which he’ll reclaim his portion of the U.S. publishing rights to Beatles songs from Sony/ATV. At one time during the mid-1980s, Paul was outbid for those rights by Michael Jackson.
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