Paul McCartney Said Linda McCartney ‘Couldn’t Believe’ His Terrible Living Conditions When They Met

Paul McCartney married his first wife, Linda, in 1969. The pair dove right in when it came to dating. McCartney invited her across the ocean to London to spend time with him and she quickly agreed. When she arrived at his home, though, she was a bit startled by what she found. According to McCartney, she found his living situation shocking.

Paul McCartney shocked Linda McCartney with his living conditions

When McCartney broke up with his longtime girlfriend Jane Asher, he reached out to Linda. They’d met before and he was free to spend time with her now that he was single. She agreed to fly from New York to London to see him. When she arrived, she couldn’t help but feel surprised by her famous boyfriend’s home.

“I got there and I arrived at this house and it was a dark house, a lot of brown, a lot of dark colours, a bachelor’s house, a man’s house,” she said, per the book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles. “I remember nothing worked, the TV barely worked, the stereo was broken, nothing worked.”

McCartney was in the studio, so Linda was alone in the home, adding to the strange experience.

“We re-met in a pretty funky way,” he said. “I said, ‘Come on over, then,’ and she arrived the night when we were doing ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun.’ She arrived at the house and phoned, and I had Mal [Evans] go round to check that she was alright. She remembers the fridge had half a bottle of sour milk and a crust of cheese, a real British fridge. She just couldn’t believe the conditions I was living in.”

Paul McCartney’s living conditions before this would have been even more shocking to Linda

Before this, though, McCartney’s living conditions would have been even more shocking to Linda. He had multiple women living in the house with him.

“There were several semi-clad girls walking about the house,” Miles recalled after a visit with McCartney. “‘It’s terrible,’ he said, gesturing. ‘The birds are always quarrelling about something. There’s three living here at the moment.’ The jostling for position must have been something to see. ‘And there’s another one, an American groupie, flying in this evening. I’ve thrown her out once, had to throw her suitcase over the wall, but it’s no good, she keeps coming back.’ He gave a resigned look and laughed.”

Luckily, they had all moved out by the time Linda visited.

The couple was married for nearly 30 years

Though she was a bit surprised at the start of their relationship, Linda married McCartney in 1969. The pair shared four children and had a uniquely close relationship. They almost never went a day without seeing each other.

Linda joined his post-Beatles band, Wings, as a keyboardist. She also inspired a number of his songs including “The Lovely Linda” and “Maybe I’m Amazed.” The couple remained married until Linda’s death in 1998.