Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is a British singer, musician and songwriter, who first came to prominence as a member of The Beatles.

Achievements and world records

• Appears in the Guinness Book of Records several times.
• "Yesterday" listed as the most covered song in history with over 3000 existing versions
• The most successful popular-music composer and recording artist ever with sales of 100 million singles and 60 gold discs
• Honoured by Guinness in 1979 with a unique rhodium disc, recognising this achievement
• The largest stadium audience in history when 184,000 paid to see him perform at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in April 1990
• The fastest ticket sales in history, which took place in 1993 when 20,000 tickets for 2 shows in Sydney, Australia sold out in eight minutes
• Was involved with the fastest-released single in history; on July 2, 2005 his performance of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with U2 at Live 8 was released 45 minutes after the performance took place. (The single reached #6 on the Billboard charts just hours after the single release, and hit #1 on numerous online download charts across the world.)
• The only artist to have UK number one singles as a soloist ("Pipes of Peace"), and part of a duo ("Ebony and Ivory" with Stevie Wonder), trio ("Mull of Kintyre" with Wings), quartet ("She Loves You", among many others, with The Beatles), quintet ("Get Back" The Beatles with Billy Preston) and sextet ("Let It Be" Ferry Aid). He was also a member of charity ensemble Band Aid which had a UK number one with Do They Know It's Christmas?
• "Yesterday" was confirmed as world's most popular song with over 6,000,000 airplays in the USA alone.
• Received an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Sussex.
• The first rock musician ever to receive Chile's Order of Merit for "services to music, peace, and human understanding".
• First recipient of the Swedish Polar Music Prize ("Nobel Prize for music").
• 1998 Winner of Lifetime Achievement Award. From People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), according to another website.
• Between his work with the Beatles and as a solo artist and leader of Wings, McCartney has written or co-written more than 50 Top Ten singles. When combined with the Beatles' 49 Top 40 U.S. singles, Paul McCartney is the most successful pop-music composer ever and the second greatest hitmaker, behind Elvis Presley.
• Is the richest rock star in the world, with an estimated personal fortune of £762 million in 2004.
• Was the only Beatle to achieve any qualifications at secondary school, doing particularly well in Art.
• Made an honorary detective by the NYPD.
• The only Beatle to ever have been nominated for an Academy Award in his own right.
• In 1997 he was knighted (Knight Bachelor) for his services to music. He dedicated his knighthood to fellow Beatles John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr and the people of Liverpool. Aides commented that he won't be calling himself "Sir Paul"; "He's always been a modest chap and he won't be getting us all bowing and scraping," one aide said. (Harrison joked at the time that he and Starr were "already calling him 'His Lordship'".)
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 (as a solo artist).