Usually when you get sick in your 70s, you might think about taking an extended break, but that’s not how Paul McCartney works. He’s back on the road again, even after having to cancel Japan and South Korea shows for an illness. On top of that, he said he has no plans to retire, which should make Beatles fans happy.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, McCartney was asked if he has any plans to retire, since his contemporary, Eric Clapton, is considering it. McCartney said that he still has more work to do and isn’t considering retirement.
“When will you give up? When will it give out? Who knows? But the margin has been stretched these days,” he said, noting how the Rolling Stones are still giving great shows. He also suggested that the world would lose a great guitarist if Clapton leaves music behind.
After explaining how he is now just getting more comfortable playing lead guitar, McCartney said, “...That's the thing that draws me forward. I enjoy it. So, yeah, that means the answer to ‘Are you going to retire?’ is ‘When I feel like it.’ But that's not today.”
McCartney, who has been on his Out There tour for over a year and released NEW last fall, also said that he has more music to record. However, he’s not in a rush to record.
“Yeah, I've got a lot of songs that I've written, and some that I need to finish,” McCartney said. “There's no fixed date, but at the back of my mind, I'll be wanting to clear a few months for me to write up the most likely of the songs that I've got on the boil and figure out how I want to record them and what I want to do with them.”
Of course, McCartney’s words are going to come as a sigh of relief for Beatles fans. Ringo Starr is also touring and it was just announced that Ron Howard will direct a new documentary about the group.
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