John Lennon Credited Paul McCartney for a Life-Changing Beatles Hit: ‘I Always Considered It His Song’

The Beatles rose to unprecedented fame in the 1960s. The band was comprised of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr; the former three got together in 1958 and secured Starr as their drummer in 1962. From there, the quartet’s lives changed forever, and they found themselves in the throes of the greatest fame a band has ever known.

The band’s leading songwriters were Lennon and McCartney, who were often both credited on songs regardless of whether it was actually the work of just one of them. And Lennon, who was credited on a major Beatles hit, has come out and said that it was entirely McCartney who took the band in a new direction.

John Lennon credited Paul McCartney for ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’

When The Beatles initially formed back in the late 1950s, Lennon and McCartney set themselves apart as the band’s core songwriters (much to George Harrison’s dismay, apparently). And as that fame climb continued, Lennon and McCartney took turns — almost to the point of competition — penning the band’s biggest hits. Ultimately, the two were often credited on each other’s songs even if the other didn’t write it, and that stands true for “Can’t Buy Me Love” — a song that took the Beatles to new levels of fame. 1964 was the year of The Beatles, and that January, McCartney and the gang were staying in Paris when he penned “Can’t Buy Me Love,” which would go on to solidify the band’s icon status and send them even further to the top that same year. And despite having credit on the song, Lennon attributed the whole piece to McCartney — his first time writing a song solo for the group.

“That’s Paul completely,” Lennon said of the song in a 1980 interview, years after it was recorded. “Maybe I had something to do with the chorus, but I don’t know. I always considered it his song.” Eight years earlier, Lennon had taken partial credit on the hit, saying in 1972 that it was “John and Paul, but mainly Paul.” He seemed to backtrack by 1980, giving McCartney full credit.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon had a rocky friendship

By the time The Beatles’ reign ended in 1970, McCartney and Lennon were not on good terms. As the band’s leading songwriters, there was always a bit of competition between the two. By the time the band broke up, tensions were so high between Lennon and McCartney that it effectively ended their friendship for several years and resulted in solo-career songs that took direct shots at one another.

“John was firing missiles at me with his songs, and one or two of them were quite cruel,” said McCartney in his 2021 memoir, per iHeart. “I don’t know what he hoped to gain, other than punching me in the face.”

The two worked well together at first, but with the intense fame came intense attitudes, and they weren’t on speaking terms for a while. However, they were eventually able to mend the wounds prior to Lennon’s death in 1980. Things improved after Lennon welcomed his first child, and after Lennon died, McCartney said he was “very glad of how we got along in those last few years.”

“Without question, it would have been the worst thing in the world for me, had he been killed, when we still had a bad relationship.”