Paul McCartney Shared Why Showing Friends His Home Is ‘an Embarrassment’
Paul McCartney has been famous for the vast majority of his life, but he claims that his home does not necessarily reflect this. After the intensity of his Beatles years, McCartney wanted a quieter life for himself and his family. While he likes living this way, he explained that it can be a bit awkward when he has celebrity guests over. They seem surprised by his laid-back way of life.
Paul McCartney said it can be awkward to show guests his home
McCartney explained that when he began raising his family, he adopted a “semi-hippie lifestyle.” He still enjoys this way of living.
“The other thing is, I don’t live fancy. I really don’t,” he told Taylor Swift in a conversation for Rolling Stone. “Sometimes it’s a little bit of an embarrassment, if I’ve got someone coming to visit me, or who I know … Who’s got a nice big house, you know. Quincy Jones came to see me and I’m, like, making him a veggie burger or something. I’m doing some cooking. This was after I’d lost Linda, in between there.”
He said that for much of the time he was cooking Jones dinner, he worried about what his guest thought of the home.
“But the point I’m making is that I’m very consciously thinking, ‘Oh, God, Quincy’s got to be thinking, “What is this guy on? He hasn’t got big things going on. It’s not a fancy house at all. And we’re eating in the kitchen! He’s not even got the dining room going,”‘ you know?”
Despite the vague embarrassment, McCartney said he would never move into a more stereotypical celebrity home.
“But that’s me. I’m awkward like that. That’s my kind of thing,” he said. “Maybe I should have, like, a big stately home. Maybe I should get a staff. But I think I couldn’t do that. I’d be so embarrassed. I’d want to walk around dressed as I want to walk around, or naked, if I wanted to.”
Paul McCartney wanted to give his kids a relatively normal home life
Part of McCartney’s decision to live a relaxed lifestyle had to do with his children. He wanted to give them a relatively normal childhood despite his level of fame.
“It was important, but it worked pretty well, because when they kind of reached adulthood, they would meet other kids who might have gone to private schools, who were a little less grounded,” he said.
He explained that their life was so normal that people hardly paid him mind as a celebrity.
“The kids would be doing all the ordinary things, and their school friends would be coming up to the house and having parties, and it was just great,” he said. “I remember one lovely evening when it was Stella’s birthday, and she brought a bunch of school kids up. And, you know, they’d all ignore me. It happens very quickly. At first they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, he’s like a famous guy,’ and then it’s like [yawns].”
The Beatles’ childhood home is now a tourist attraction
Fans hoping to see how McCartney has lived in the past can visit his childhood home in Liverpool. The National Trust purchased the house and restored it to look as it did when McCartney lived there.
Fans can book a tour of both Lennon and McCartney’s childhood homes. While the other Beatles’ homes are not a part of the tour, George Harrison’s childhood home is available as an Airbnb.
