Paul McCartney Imagined How His Mom Would Have Reacted to His Success
Paul McCartney’s mom died when he was young, so she couldn’t see his rise to fame with The Beatles. However, much of his passion for music and work ethic came from his mother, and he imagined how she would have reacted to his successful career if she had lived longer.
Paul McCartney believes his mom would have been ‘proud’ of his career
McCartney’s mom died from cancer when he was 14. While he had shown an interest in music in a young age, his mom never got to see that passion flourish. In an interview with This Cultural Life podcast, McCartney discussed his parents and said his mother would have “liked” his success if she had seen it. He also said they would have been “immensely proud” of one of his royal accomplishments.
“I think she would have liked it,” McCartney said. “My dad did. He got to see it. And he loved it. I think they would have been proud, you know, that I’d done ok. And they would have been immensely proud of a knighthood and companion of honour. I mean, it would have gone down very well.”
McCartney said the legacy in his work was ‘kindness’
While Paul McCartney’s mom was in his life for an unfortunately short time, she still left an imprint on him through various traits. He told the podcast that her legacy on him and his career was “kindness” and a shared love of music.
“She also loved music,” McCartney shared. “So one of my great memories is hearing her in the kitchen whistling, and I thought, ‘This is great. Mom’s happy.’ You know, just those little things were great memories for me. She was an amazing woman cause she was a nurse, and then she became a midwife. So, I would say that was her legacy really. Just realizing that it was a good thing to care for people. And also, she was very aspirational. So, she wanted us to do well. Of course, being a nurse, she wanted us to be doctors, me and my brother.”
Sir Macca wrote ‘Let it Be’ after his mother visited him in a dream
“Let It Be” is easily one of the biggest hits in The Beatles’ discography. The song reached No. 1 and was also the name of their final album. McCartney has famously shared that his mother reached out to him in a dream while in a rough patch of his life. She told him everything would be alright and to “let it be.”
“I had a dream. That’s where it all came from,” McCartney explained. “In the ‘60s, when I was doing too much of everything like all my friends…I went to sleep one night, and she came to me in the dream…I remember what went on, you know, that I was obviously looking a bit wrecked. And she was concerned, and she said to me, ‘Don’t worry. It’s gonna be alright. Everything’s gonna turn out ok,’ which was so reassuring ‘cause, you know, I didn’t know whether it would, but hearing your mom say that, it was great. And she said, ‘It’s all gonna work out right. Just let it be.’”
