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Paul McCartney's band

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Not to be confused with Paul McCartney and Wings.
Paul McCartney's band
Paul McCartney and his band at Glastonbury 2022. From left: Rusty Anderson, Abe Laboriel Jr., Brian Ray, Paul McCartney and Wix Wickens.
Paul McCartney and his band at Glastonbury 2022. From left: Rusty Anderson, Abe Laboriel Jr., Brian Ray, Paul McCartney and Wix Wickens.
Background information
Genres
Years active1989–1993; 2001–present
Members
Past members
Websitepaulmccartney.com

Paul McCartney has been accompanied live and in the studio by various musicians since the breakup of Wings in 1981.[1] The core line-up of his band has been steady since 2002, and includes Wix Wickens on keyboards and serving as musical director, Rusty Anderson on guitar, Brian Ray on guitar and bass, and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums.[2]

History

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McCartney has had only two significant incarnations of a backing band since the breakup of Paul McCartney and Wings in 1981.[3] The former band, active from 1989 to 1993 with occasional appearances thereafter, included his wife Linda McCartney on vocals and keyboards, Hamish Stuart on guitar and bass, Wickens on keyboards, and former Pretenders Robbie McIntosh and Blair Cunningham on guitar and drums respectively.[3] Wickens' former collaborator in Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, drummer Chris Whitten, also featured early in this lineup.[4] This lineup played on McCartney's studio albums Flowers in the Dirt[5] and Off the Ground[6] and the live albums Tripping the Live Fantastic,[7] Unplugged (The Official Bootleg),[8] and Paul Is Live.[9]

McCartney began to coalesce a new band on his next few albums following Linda's death in 1998. Driving Rain featured Anderson and Laboriel;[1] Ray was recruited one day before McCartney performed "Freedom" at Super Bowl XXXVI[10] and joined the band on Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.[11] Memory Almost Full returned Wickens to the lineup.[12] New and Egypt Station featured all four.[13] Anderson and Laboriel also appeared on one track of McCartney III, an album on which all instruments other than theirs were played by McCartney himself.[14]

McCartney credits the band's familiarity for their continued cohesiveness. He said in 2014, "I trust the guys. They know what I'm going to do, I know what they are going to do. We surprise each other—and even if it's like, 'I didn't know you were going to do that,' we can all follow it. That's the great thing with a band. And all of us just come to play music. There's no other thing on the agenda. We just love playing together."[15]

The quintet has also been the backbone of two decades of world tours.[16] They appear on the live albums and DVDs Back in the U.S.,[17] Back in the World Live,[18] Paul McCartney in Red Square,[18] The Space Within US,[19] Good Evening New York City,[20] and Live in Los Angeles, the latter with David Arch filling in for Wickens.[21] The lineup returned to the Super Bowl for McCartney's halftime show in 2005.[22] In 2010, they played together at the White House when McCartney received the Gershwin Prize from President Barack Obama.[23]

The current incarnation has been together longer than any of McCartney's other bands, including the Beatles and Wings.[3] McCartney noted in 2014, "A couple of years ago, I kind of looked at them and said: 'You know what guys? We're a band. We're a real band. I think up until then we'd just been thinking: 'We're getting together, and playing some songs.' But we're a band now—and that elevated our performance, I think. When we realized that, we sort of felt so much better about what we were doing."[15]

Members

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See also: Paul McCartney and Wings

Current lineup

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  • Paul McCartney – lead vocals, bass guitar, rhythm and lead guitars, piano,[24] keyboards, ukulele, mandolin, drums[25] (1989–present)
  • Wix Wickens – keyboards, accordion, rhythm guitar, bass guitar,[25] harmonica, percussion, backing vocals (1989–present)[26][27][28]
  • Rusty Anderson – lead guitar, backing vocals (2001–present)
  • Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2001–present)[28]
  • Brian Ray – rhythm and lead guitars, bass guitar, percussion[24] backing vocals (2002–present)[28]

Past lineup

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Timeline

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References

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  1. ^ a b Albano, Ric (12 November 2016). "Driving Rain by Paul McCartney". Modern Rock Review. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  2. ^ Price, Karen (12 June 2010). "Backstage with Beatles legend Paul McCartney". Wales Online. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Womack, Kenneth (12 July 2019). "Four new Paul McCartney reissues prove he's a master of the live show". Salon. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  4. ^ Du Noyer, Paul (2016). Conversations with McCartney. Abrams. p. 255. ISBN 978-1468313406.
  5. ^ "Paul Is Live". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  6. ^ Sounes, Howard (2010). Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney. Da Capo Press. p. 437. ISBN 978-0306817830.
  7. ^ "Tripping The Live Fantastic". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  8. ^ Hunter, James (27 June 1991). "Unplugged: The Official Bootleg". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Paul Is Live". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  10. ^ Jordan, Oscar (16 January 2011). "Brian Ray: 10 Years (And Counting) On a Magical Mystery Tour". Premier Guitar. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  11. ^ Badgley, Aaron. "Spill Album Review: Paul McCartney – Chaos and Creation in the Backyard". The Spill Magazine. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Memory Almost Full". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  13. ^ DeRiso, Nick (19 September 2019). "How to Make the Perfect LP from Paul McCartney's Recent Albums". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Bonus Tracks for 'McCartney III' Revealed". Nights with Alice Cooper. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  15. ^ a b Lifton, Dave (14 March 2014). "Paul McCartney: We're A Real Band". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  16. ^ Bamberger, Cayla (31 August 2018). "Paul McCartney Unveils First U.S. Dates of New Freshen Up Tour". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Paul Is Live". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  18. ^ a b Womack, Kenneth (2016). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four. Greenwood. p. 64. ISBN 978-1440844263.
  19. ^ Franco, Michael (17 December 2006). "Paul McCartney: Paul McCartney: The Space Within US (DVD)". Pop Matters. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Good Evening New York City". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Live in Los Angeles". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  22. ^ McCollum, Brian (15 October 2015). "Paul McCartney gets by with a little help from his band". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  23. ^ Varga, George (24 September 2014). "Paul McCartney guitarist Brian Ray's dream gig". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  24. ^ a b Paul McCartney - Hey Jude - Live At London 2012 | Music Monday, retrieved 22 December 2022
  25. ^ a b c d e "Ain't No Sunshine". The Beatles Bible. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  26. ^ a b c d e "Paul McCartney - Paul with his 1989/90 touring band. Left-to-Right: Paul 'Wix' Wickens, Chris Whitten, Linda McCartney, Paul, Robbie McIntosh, Hamish Stuart. Promotional shoot for the 'World Tour', 1989 #FlashbackFriday #FBF | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  27. ^ a b c d e Nights with, Alice Cooper. "FLASHBACK: PAUL McCARTNEY LAUNCHES 1989 COMEBACK TOUR". Nights with Alice Cooper. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  28. ^ a b c Loncaric, Denis (14 January 2022). "Paul McCartney drummer - Abraham Laboriel Jr". DRUM! Magazine. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
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