Author Guide · Lyrics, Memoir & Music History
Books Written by
Paul McCartney, born in Liverpool in 1942, has never written a conventional autobiography. Instead the songwriter behind “Yesterday” and “Let It Be” has told his life through his songs, his photographs and, most recently, the voices of the band he formed after the Beatles. The Lyrics (2021), built from conversations with the poet Paul Muldoon, is the nearest thing to a memoir. This guide covers his 4 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 4 key books · 2001–2025 · Updated October 2026
ClickTap a spine to jump to that book below.
Quick answer
Paul McCartney’s key books are The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (2021), Blackbird Singing (2001), 1964: Eyes of the Storm (2023) and Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run (2025). Start with The Lyrics, where he tells the stories behind his songs; he has also written children’s books.
Where to Start with Paul McCartney
If you want the closest thing to his memoir
→ The Lyrics (2021) — the stories behind 154 songs.
If you want the Beatles at the height of Beatlemania
→ 1964 (2023) — his own photographs from 1963–64.
If you want the years after the Beatles
→ Wings (2025) — the oral history of Wings.
4 Paul McCartney Books, in Order
Blackbird Singing
A selection of McCartney’s song lyrics alongside poems written to be read on the page, edited by the poet Adrian Mitchell. It covers the years 1965 to 1999, from the Beatles to the late 1990s.
The Lyrics
A two-volume book of 154 of his songs, arranged alphabetically, each with a commentary on how and why it was written. The commentaries come from conversations with the Irish poet Paul Muldoon, who edited the book, and range from his Liverpool childhood to the Beatles, Wings and his solo work, with photographs and manuscripts from his archive.
1964
Photographs McCartney took himself in 1963 and 1964, as Beatlemania took hold and the band made their first visit to the United States. The book accompanied an exhibition of the photographs at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2023.
Wings
An oral history of Wings, the band McCartney formed after the Beatles split, edited by the historian Ted Widmer and published by Liveright and Allen Lane. Over some 550 pages, with about a hundred photographs, many not seen before, it follows the band through the 1970s in the words of McCartney and those around him.
In What Order to Read Paul McCartney
The books are independent. The Lyrics covers his whole career and is the natural first read; its alphabetical order means you can look up the songs you know.
1964 and Wings each zoom in on one period, the Beatles’ arrival in America and the decade that followed the split. Blackbird Singing is for readers who want the words without the commentary.
A reading path
1. The Lyrics (2021)
2. 1964: Eyes of the Storm (2023)
3. Wings (2025)
4. Blackbird Singing (2001)
Everything Else Paul McCartney Published
Beyond the 4 key books: 3 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Children’s books
3
3 books · 2005–2021
- 2005High in the Cloudsan animal adventure written with Philip Ardagh and Geoff Dunbar
- 2019Hey Grandude!a picture book about a grandfather and his grandchildren
- 2021Grandude’s Green Submarinethe sequel to Hey Grandude!
The years · 1942–2025
Quick facts about Paul McCartney
- Known for
- Paul McCartney is known as a member of the Beatles and the founder of Wings, and as one of the most successful songwriters in popular music.
- 1942
- Born in Liverpool
- 1960
- The Beatles take their name
- 1971
- Forms Wings
- 2021
- The Lyrics
- 2025
- Wings
- Born
- 18 June 1942, Liverpool, England
- Bands
- The Beatles, Wings, and a solo career
- Knighted
- 1997
- Key book
- The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (2021), edited by Paul Muldoon
- Collaborators
- Adrian Mitchell, Paul Muldoon, Ted Widmer
The red mark is 2021: The Lyrics, the stories behind his songs.
How Paul McCartney Writes About His Life
McCartney’s books are built around his work rather than a chronological life story. The Lyrics takes one song at a time, so his childhood, his parents, John Lennon and his marriages appear in the commentary to whichever song they belong to.
He tends to work with an editor who shapes his spoken memories: the poet Paul Muldoon for The Lyrics, the historian Ted Widmer for Wings. The result keeps the voice of someone talking, and the oral-history form of Wings adds other people’s memories to his own.
His photographs in 1964 do the same from behind the camera. For another musician who explains songwriting from the inside, see Nick Cave.
Watch
Paul McCartney on The Lyrics
Paul McCartney talks to Waterstones in 2021 about The Lyrics.
Frequently asked questions about Paul McCartney’s books
How many books has Paul McCartney written?
Four key books for adults are on this page — Blackbird Singing (2001), The Lyrics (2021), 1964: Eyes of the Storm (2023) and Wings (2025) — plus three children’s books.
What are Paul McCartney’s books in order?
Blackbird Singing (2001), The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (2021), 1964: Eyes of the Storm (2023) and Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run (2025).
Where should I start with Paul McCartney?
With The Lyrics, where he tells the story behind 154 of his songs.
What is Paul McCartney’s most famous book?
The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (2021).
Has Paul McCartney written an autobiography?
Not a conventional one. The Lyrics is the closest, telling his life through his songs.
Did Paul McCartney write The Lyrics himself?
The commentaries are in his own words, taken from conversations with the poet Paul Muldoon, who edited the book and wrote its introduction.
What is the Wings book about?
Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run (2025) is an oral history of the band McCartney formed after the Beatles, edited by Ted Widmer, with about a hundred photographs.
Has Paul McCartney written children’s books?
Yes: High in the Clouds (2005), Hey Grandude! (2019) and its sequel Grandude’s Green Submarine (2021).
Is The Lyrics worth reading if you’re not a Beatles fan?
It is arranged by song, so it works best if you know at least some of them, but the commentaries are as much about Liverpool, family and how songs get written as about the band.
Footnotes
- The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present — Wikipedia
- The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present — paulmccartney.com
- Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run — Wikipedia
- Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm — National Portrait Gallery
- Hey Grandude! — Wikipedia
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“… my songs, hundreds of them, which I’ve learned serve much the same purpose. And these songs span my entire life.”
— Paul McCartney, announcing The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (2021)
If this shelf interested you, the full bookshelf has more: reading lists by theme, author guides, and notes on what is actually worth your time.
Browse the full bookshelf Get book recommendations