Man on the Run ─ Paul Mccartney in the 1970s

An illuminating look at the most tumultuous decade in the life of a rock icon—the only McCartney biography in decades based on firsthand interviews with the ex-Beatle himself.

As the 1970s began, the Beatles ended, leaving Paul McCartney to face the new decade with only his wife and family by his side. Holed up at his farmhouse in Scotland, he sank into a deep depression. To outsiders, McCartney seemed like a man adrift—frightened by his own fame, paralyzed by the choices that lay before him, bereft of his musical moorings. But what appeared to be the sad finale of a glorious career was just the start of a remarkable second act.

The product of a long series of one-on-one interviews between McCartney and Scottish rock journalist Tom Doyle, Man on the Run chronicles Paul McCartney’s decadelong effort to escape the shadow of his past, outrace his critics, and defy the expectations of his fans. From the bitter and painful breakup of the Beatles to the sobering wake-up call of John Lennon’s murder, this is a deeply revealing look at a sometimes frightening, often exhilarating period in the life of the world’s most famous rock star.

Sensing that he had nowhere to go but up, McCartney started over from scratch. With emotional—and musical—backing from his wife, Linda, he released a series of eccentric solo albums and embarked on a nomadic hippie lifestyle. He formed a new band, Wings, which first took flight on a ramshackle tour of British university towns and eventually returned Paul to the summit of arena rock superstardom.

In Man on the Run, Doyle follows McCartney inside the recording sessions for Wings’ classic album Band on the Run—and provides context for some of the baffling misfires in his discography. He tracks the dizzying highs and exasperating lows of a life lived in the public spotlight: the richly excessive world tours; the Japanese drug bust that nearly ended McCartney’s career; his bitter public feuds with his erstwhile Beatle bandmates; and the aftermath of an infamous drug-and-alcohol-fueled jam session where McCartney helped reconcile the estranged John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

For Paul McCartney, the 1970s were a wild ride with some dark turns. Set against the backdrop of a turbulent decade, Man on the Run casts the “sunny Beatle” in an entirely new light.

Tom Doyle is an acclaimed music journalist, author, and long-standing contributing editor to Q. His work has also appeared in Mojo, The Guardian, Marie Claire, Elle, The Times, and Sound on Sound. Over the years, he has been responsible for key magazine-cover profiles of Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Kate Bush, Elton John, R.E.M., and U2, among many others. He is the author of The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy MacKenzie, which has attained the status of a classic rock biography since its original publication. He lives in London, England.