Paul McCartney Admits To Forgetting Lyrics On Stage Due To Booze

Paul McCartney has admitted that he no longer drinks before concerts as he used to forget lyrics to his songs on stage when he’d boozed just before. The 75-year-old confirmed that he used to drink before going on stage, especially “in the early days of Wings.”

“No. I used to try drinking before a gig, particularly in the early days of Wings when we would tour. But it didn’t work – I would just forget the lyrics I didn’t know anyway.”

Paul McCartney made this admission during his recent interview, as reported by the Daily Mail, during which he also confessed that he prefers to avoid eating or drinking too much before going on stage because he wants to feel “light” when he is in front of his audience.

That doesn’t mean that he staves off food all together, though. During the same interview, the music legend confessed that he likes to consume chocolate covered raisins or salted cashew nuts while in his dressing room before the concert begins. Paul McCartney still lets loose from time to time, though, as he added that after his shows he can then “can get heavy and have a drink.”

This week is a rather important one in the history of The Beatles. That’s because it marks the 60th anniversary of the first time that Paul McCartney and John Lennon met at a church fete in the village of Woolton, Liverpool.

At the time, though, the 16-year-old John Lennon was actually in a band of his own called The Quarrymen, while Paul McCartney was looking to join one. John Lennon’s friend, Ivan Vaughan, brought Paul McCartney down to the fete to see the band, and then after the show Paul McCartney auditioned to join The Quarrymen.

While John Lennon was initially condescending to Paul McCartney, he was soon impressed by the 15-year-old’s efforts with the guitar. The rest, as they say, is history, and by 1960 George Harrison had joined the group, who had now been renamed The Beatles, while Ring Starr replaced Pete Best on the drums in 1962.

Those of you that want to see Paul McCartney in concert can do just that over the next few weeks as he is currently in the midst of touring the U.S.

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]