Paul McCartney Said John Lennon Was ‘Not Cool,’ and He Had a Point

Immediately after The Beatles broke up, Paul McCartney and John Lennon made it clear that they were not on good terms. They wrote about each other in songs, insulted each other in interviews, and even penned angry open responses to one another. One comment that drew Lennon’s public ire came from an interview with McCartney. He said Lennon and Yoko Ono were not cool in the way they were approaching their career. Despite Lennon’s anger, McCartney had a point.

Paul McCartney said John Lennon was ‘not cool’ in an interview

After The Beatles broke up, each former member could finally perform concerts again. The band stopped touring in 1966 because it had gotten too hectic; they could barely hear themselves onstage and faced danger from overexcited fans. McCartney missed live performances and wanted to find a way to put them on again.

“Before John was leaving the Beatles, I was lying in bed at home one night and I thought we could get a band together, like his Plastic Ono Band,” McCartney told Melody Maker in 1971 (via Beatles Interviews). “I felt the urge because we had never played live for four years. We all wanted to appear on a stage but not with the Beatles. We couldn’t do it as the Beatles because it would be so big. We’d have to find a million-seater hall or something.”

After The Beatles broke up, Lennon performed with Ono in the Plastic Ono Band and as a solo artist. This frustrated McCartney, who had wanted The Beatles to quietly perform in small venues under a different name.

“John and Yoko are not cool in what they are doing,” he said. “I saw them on television the other night and thought that what they are saying about what they wanted to do together was basically the same as what Linda and I want to do.”

John Lennon fired back at Paul McCartney in a letter

Lennon did not take McCartney’s remarks lying down. He wrote a furious letter in response, which Melody Maker published in full. He noted that he and Ono had long been performing at smaller venues.

“In fact we’ve BEEN DOING what you’ve said the Beatles should do,” he wrote. “Yoko and I have been doing it for three years! (I said it was daft for the Beatles to do it. I still think it’s daft.) So go on and do it! Do it! Do it!”

He also fired back at the assertion that he was “not cool” for his new performance style.

“Wanna put your photo on the label like uncool John and Yoko, do ya?” he wrote. “(Aint ya got no shame!) If we’re not cool, WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU?”

He had a point with his statement

Was it a bit harsh to say Lennon and Ono were “not cool”? Yes, but Lennon and McCartney were embroiled in a verbal sparring match at this point. And, it’s worth noting that he doesn’t appear to be saying his former bandmate was uncool like Lennon inferred. Rather, McCartney seems to be saying that Lennon and Ono’s collaboration was not more creatively innovative than any of the other bandmate’s solo efforts or The Beatles. 

This was a fair point to make. Lennon worked hard to separate himself from The Beatles at this point in his career. He insulted their music and noted how happy he was to be free to push the envelope. McCartney always bristled at this attitude. He was tired of Lennon insulted his solo career and unfairly insinuating that he was the creative muscle behind the band. By saying his former bandmate was “not cool,” he meant that Lennon was not doing anything overly groundbreaking by working with another group. He had similar ideas and wanted some credit for that.