Linda McCartney was Paul McCartney’s first wife, married to him from 1969 until her death in 1998. She is often introduced simply as a Beatle’s wife, but that misses the first half of her story: she was already a working photographer in New York and London before she married McCartney, and she later built a second public identity as a musician, vegetarian cookbook author, and animal rights activist.
Her 29-year marriage to McCartney was, by the standards of rock marriages, unusually stable. It lasted through the breakup of the Beatles, the formation of Wings, the raising of four children, and her final illness.
Her Early Life and Photography Career
Linda Louise Eastman was born on September 24, 1941, in Scarsdale, New York. Her father, Lee Eastman, was an entertainment lawyer. She graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1959 and attended the University of Arizona in Tucson.
While working as an editorial assistant, she launched a photography career, capturing candid photographs of rock stars, including the Rolling Stones. In 1968, she became the first woman to have her work featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. That achievement came before her marriage to McCartney, and it establishes her as a photographer in her own right, not simply as someone who happened to be near famous musicians.
Her First Marriage
Linda Eastman’s first marriage was to Joseph Melville See Jr., a geology student she had met in college. They married on June 18, 1962, and their daughter, Heather Louise, was born on December 31, 1962. That marriage ended in divorce in 1965.
Heather would later be adopted by Paul McCartney after his marriage to Linda, so the family that readers associate with the McCartneys includes a child from Linda’s first marriage, as well as three children from her second.
Meeting Paul McCartney and Their 1969 Wedding
Linda Eastman met Paul McCartney in May 1967, while on assignment in London. They saw each other again a few days later at a party celebrating the release of the Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He visited her the following spring in New York, and she went to stay with him in London in 1968 and never left, moving in with her daughter soon after.
They married on March 12, 1969, in a small civil ceremony at Marylebone Registry Office in London, followed by a blessing at St John’s Wood Church. Paul McCartney legally adopted Heather after the marriage.
Their Children and Wings
Paul and Linda McCartney had three children together:
- Mary Anna McCartney, born August 28, 1969, in London, who became a photographer
- Stella Nina McCartney, born September 13, 1971, who became a fashion designer
- James Louis McCartney, born September 12, 1977, in London, who became a musician
After the Beatles broke up in 1970, Paul and Linda recorded the album Ram and formed the band Wings in 1971. Linda sang harmonies and played keyboards in Wings, despite having no formal musical training. Paul wanted her with him as a member of the band, and she remained part of his touring band after Wings broke up in 1981, up until the New World Tour in 1993.
Wings became the best-selling pop act of the 1970s, with 27 U.S. Top 40 hits, according to Britannica’s summary of Paul McCartney’s career. Linda’s role in that success is sometimes dismissed, but she was on stage and on record for the whole Wings period, not a background figure.
Vegetarian Cooking and Animal Rights
Linda McCartney became a vegetarian in the early 1970s and campaigned for animal rights until her death. She published her first vegetarian cookbook in 1989 and launched a line of frozen vegetarian products, Linda McCartney Foods, in 1991. That business grew to reported sales of $50 million by 1998.
That work gave her a public identity separate from music. For many readers in the 1990s, Linda McCartney was first a vegetarian cookbook author and food entrepreneur, and only second a former member of Wings.
She became Lady McCartney when her husband was knighted in 1997.
Her Death in 1998
Linda McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, and the disease spread to her liver. She died on April 17, 1998, at the age of 56, at the McCartney family ranch in Tucson, Arizona.
A memorial service was held in London, attended by former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, marking the last time they and Paul McCartney appeared and performed together in public, according to later accounts.
Paul McCartney married again after Linda’s death, first to Heather Mills, with whom he had a daughter, Beatrice, and later to Nancy Shevell in 2011. His children with Linda — Heather, Mary, Stella, and James — remain his children from his first marriage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Linda McCartney?
She was Paul McCartney’s first wife, an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, and entrepreneur, married to him from 1969 to 1998.
When did Linda and Paul McCartney marry?
They married on March 12, 1969, in London.
How many children did they have?
Three together — Mary, Stella, and James — plus Heather, Linda’s daughter from her first marriage, whom Paul adopted.
What was Linda McCartney’s role in Wings?
She sang harmonies and played keyboards in Wings from its formation in 1971, despite having no formal musical training.
When did Linda McCartney die?
She died on April 17, 1998, at the age of 56, from breast cancer, in Tucson, Arizona.
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