Paul, Family And History Of Rock Music Through The Heartbreaking Photos Of Linda McCartney

Paul McCartney and his wife Linda (1941 – 1998) with their daughters Heather, Stella and Mary in Rye, East Sussex, 4th April 1976. Linda married Paul McCartney in 1969, and the two had three children: Mary Anna, Stella, and James. Linda was a member of Paul’s band, Wings, and she also wrote/recorded music independently (Seaside woman – Suzy and The Red Stripes).

Linda was house photographer at the Fillmore East concern hall and shot numerous musicians including the Stones, Doors, Frank Zappa, Kinks, the Who, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Beatles etc. During her days as a professional photographer, she published Linda McCartney’s Sixties: Portrait of an Era. As a vegetarian and animal rights activist, Linda wrote several cookbooks, and also created the Linda McCartney Foods company, selling ready made veggie food. Linda famously said “if slaughterhouses had glass walls the whole world would be vegetarian”. Sadly, Linda passed away at age 56 from breast cancer.

These pictures are mostly from Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs, a rich, evocative low-key look at the human side of the celebrities we are set up revere – to watch but not always to see.

The Beatles

The Rolling Stones – taken on Linda’s fortuitous shoot which secured her future as a rockumentarian goddess.

Candid shot of The Beatles from the April, 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s press-op. Paul got Linda’s number not long after.

Paul McCartney with his daughters Heather and Mary.

The Grateful Dead

Jimi Hendrix Experience in London, 1967

Jimi Hendrix Experience

Twiggy

Twiggy

Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holdling Company

Janis Joplin

Paul McCartney and John Lennon

Jimi Hendrix

John. 1968. This shot speaks volumes.

Evocative shot of Steppenwolf – the first band signed under The Beatles’ fledgling late ’60s’ label, Apple Records.

Pete Townshend (L)

Paul McCartney with his stepdaughter Heather

Heather and Mary (L), Paul and Mary (R)

Paul’s feet

Paul and Heather in the flowers, 1970

The McCartneys, Paul, Stella, James (and Linda behind the lens, of course) at home in Scotland.

A cluttered desk at the McCartney farm in Scotland – 1970s.

Heather, Mary and Paul McCartney

Paul with his daughter Mary

Paul with his daughter Mary

Stella McCartney, Montserrat, 1981

Heather, Stella, and Paul

Self-portrait, Arizona 1991

Self-portrait, Sussex, 1985

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, London 1983.

Paul with Willem De Kooning in East Hampton, 1983. Photo by Linda McCartney

Queen’s Speech, Liverpool, 1968

Paul and Linda attend the premiere of ‘Live and Let Die’.

Paul McCartney and his wife Linda (1941 – 1998) with their daughters Heather, Stella and Mary in Rye, East Sussex, 4th April 1976. Photo by David Montgomery/Getty Images

The Beatles at Brian Epstein’s house in Belgravia 1967

Linda and Paul get married at Marylebone Register Office, March 1969

Linda McCartney with her husband Paul and daughters Heather and Mary (Photo by Alain DeJean)