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Artist News Media
Paul McCartney discusses depression after Beatles split
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 25 May 2016
Paul McCartney has spoken about the depression he experienced after The Beatles split up in 1970. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s ‘Mastertapes’ series, he said that he turned to drink to cope.
“It was difficult to know what to do after The Beatles. How do you follow that? I was depressed. You would be. You were breaking from your lifelong friends. So I took to the bevvies … I took to a wee dram. It was great at first, then suddenly I wasn’t having a good time. I was far gone. It was Linda who said, ‘You’ve got to get it together’ and that led to [forming] Wings. I liked the idea of a band. I wanted to go back to square one”.
As previously reported, the topic of how the music industry cares (or doesn’t) for the mental well-being of its artists and those behind the scenes was discussed in detail at last week’s CMU Insights @ The Great Escape conference.
The music industry could and should be a world leader in occupational health provision, but a 40 year old story about Paul McCartney still seems all too familiar. An initial step towards overcoming those failings is research being carried out by Help Musicians UK and the University Of Westminster into the mental health of artists and music business professionals, more information on which here.
