Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (Order of the British Empire), Kt (Knight Bachelor) (born 18 June 1942), is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record and film producer, poet, painter, and animal rights and peace activist. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings (Wings (band)), according to Guinness World Records, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in the history of popular music.

McCartney gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships (Lennon/McCartney) and wrote some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman (Linda McCartney), and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs (Music recording sales certification) and sales of 100 million singles (Single (music)) in the UK.SfnGuinness2009

BBC News named his song "Yesterday (Yesterday (song))" the most covered (cover version) song in history?by over 2,200 artists?and, according to the BBC has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio. Wings 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre (Mull of Kintyre (song))" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UKs top selling non-charity single. Based on the 93 weeks his compositions have spent at the top spot of the UK chart, and 24 number one singles to his credit, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in UK singles chart history. As a performer or songwriter, McCartney was responsible for 32 number one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 (Billboard Hot 100) chart, and sold 15.5 million RIAA certified albums in the US alone.

McCartney has worked on film scores and classical and electronic music, released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist, and taken part in projects to help international charities. He is an advocate for animal rights, for vegetarianism, and for music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt (Make Poverty History). He is a keen football (association football) fan, supporting both Everton (Everton F.C.) and Liverpool (Liverpool F.C.) football clubs. His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls (Guys and Dolls (musical)), A Chorus Line, and Grease (Grease (musical)). McCartney is one of Britains wealthiest men, with an estimated fortune of �750 million ($1.2 billion) in 2009.