Out of all the former Beatles, Paul McCartney by far had the majority successful solo career, maintaining a steady presence in the British and American charts during the '70s and '80s. In America alone, Paul McCartney had nine number one singles and seven number one albums during the first 12 years of his solo career. Although Paul McCartney sold records, McCartney never attained much critical respect, especially when compared to his former partner John Lennon. Then again, Paul McCartney pursued a different path than Lennon, deciding early on that he wanted to be in a rock band.

Within a year after the Beatles' breakup, Paul McCartney had formed Wings with his wife Linda, and the group remained active for the next ten years, racking up a string of hit albums, singles, and tours in the meantime. By the late '70s, many critics were taking potshots at Paul McCartney 's of course melodic song craft, but that didn't stop the public from buying his records. His sales didn't sluggish significantly until the late '80s, and he retaliated with his first full-scale tour since the '70s, which was a considerable success. Throughout the '90s, Paul McCartney recorded less frequently, concentrating on projects like his first classical recording, a techno album and the Beatles' Anthology. Like Lennon and George Harrison, Paul McCartney started exploring original avenues outside the Beatles during the late '60s, but where his band mates released their own experimental records, Paul McCartney confined himself to writing and production for other artists, with the exception of his 1966 soundtrack to The Family Way.

Next Paul McCartney’s marriage to Linda Eastman on March 12, 1969, Paul McCartney started working at his home studio on his first solo album. Paul McCartney released the record, McCartney, in April 1970, two weeks before the Beatles' Let It Be was scheduled to hit the stores. Prior to the album's release, Paul McCartney announced that the Beatles were breaking-up, which was against the wishes of the other members? As a result, the tensions between him and the other three members, mainly Harrison and Lennon, increased and he earned the ill-will of many critics. Nevertheless, Paul McCartney became a hit, spending three weeks at the top of the American charts. Early in 1971, he returned with "Another Day," which became his first hit single as a solo artist. It was followed more than a few months later by Ram, another home-made collection, this time featuring the contributions of his wife Linda.

By the end of 1971, the Paul McCartney had formed Wings, which was intended to be a full-fledged recording and on the road band. Former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell became the group's other members, and Wings released their first album, Wild Life, in December 1971. Wild Life was greeted with poor review and was a relative flop. Paul McCartney and Wings, which now featured former Grease Band guitarist Henry McCullough, spent 1972 as a working band, releasing three singles -- the protest "Give Ireland Back to the Irish," the reggae-fied "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and the rocking "Hi Hi Hi" -- in England. Red Rose Speedway followed in the spring of 1973, and while it received weak reviews, it became his second American number one album.

Later in 1973, Wings embarked on their first British tour, at the conclusion of which McCullough and Seiwell left the band. Prior to their departure, the Paul McCartney 's theme to the James Bond movie Live and Let Die became a Top 10 hit in the US and UK. That summer, the remaining Wings proceeded to record a new album in Nigeria. Released late in 1973, Band on the Run, was at the same time McCartney's best-reviewed album and his most winning, spending four weeks at the top of the US charts and eventually going triple platinum. Following the success of Band on the Run, Paul McCartney formed a new version of Wings with guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton.

The new lineup was showcased on the 1974 British single "Junior's Farm" and the 1975 hit album Venus and Mars. At the Speed of Sound followed in 1976, and it was the primary Wings record to feature songwriting contributions by the other band members. Nevertheless, the album became a fiend success on the basis of two McCartney songs, "Silly Love Songs" and "Let 'Em In." Wings supported the album with their first global tour which broke many attendance records and was captured on the live triple-album Wings over America (1976). After the tour finished, Wings rested a bit during 1977, as McCartney released an instrumental version of Ram under the name Thrillington and produced Denny Laine's solo album, Holly Days. Later that year, Wings released "Mull of Kintyre," which became the biggest-selling British single of all time, selling over two million copies.