Paul McCartney Signs with Capitol Records
Amagansett resident and recent recent Rolling Stone cover model Paul McCartney has signed a worldwide recording agreement with Capitol Records. Capitol Music Group (CMG) Chairman and CEO Steve Barnett made the announcement on Wednesday.
What McCartney’s people are calling a “historic contract” encompasses the legendary rock icon’s entire body of post-Beatles work, from his 1970 McCartney album, to his 10 years with Wings, and the dozens of solo and collaborative works. The catalogue moves to Capitol and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) from Concord, Paul’s previous label partner on albums such as the Grammy-winning Band On The Run (Best Historical Album, 2012), Kisses On The Bottom (Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 2013) and Wings Over America (Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, 2014).
“This is genuinely exciting for me,” McCartney said in announcement sent out to fans on Wednesday. “Not only was Capitol my first U.S. record label, but the first record I ever bought was Gene Vincent’s ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ on the Capitol label.”
According to Barnett, “Paul McCartney’s association with Capitol has long defined so much of our historic legacy, and all of us here are extremely proud and honored that he has chosen to come back home. Paul’s indelible contributions to our culture are second to none, and his constant evolution as an artist and performer continues to inspire and enrich the lives of countless millions of people. We are overjoyed that Paul will be creating new music for years to come, and that Capitol will be helping to present it to the world.”
McCartney is currently busy working on a new studio album, while Capitol and UMe, in conjunction with McCartney and his management, create a comprehensive plan for his catalogue, which will be implemented beginning in July 2017.
Recently, the former Beatle graced the cover of Rolling Stone‘s August issue. Inside, the article and interview, written by David Fricke, shows that the musician is definitely not an old soul. Fricke describes McCartney as a true performer after observing him imitate celebrities like Mick Jagger and humming and singing some of his old tunes while waiting backstage at his concerts.
McCartney describes the thrill he still gets from performing onstage, his future performance plans, his relationship with Yoko Ono and his collaborations with artists such as Kanye West. Having the same band for the past 15 years has helped inspire McCartney to create more music and to continue doing what he loves most. The interview also talks about how he shares The Beatles’ legacy with former band member, Ringo Starr and members’ widows, Ono and Olivia Harrison.
On West’s music, McCartney says to Fricke that he listens to hip-hop more to educate himself on modern music rather than listening for pleasure. He says West is innovative and “a great artist” providing for a friendly collaboration between the two.
Recently named by the Official Albums Chart Company as the United Kingdom’s most successful albums artist of all time, McCartney has sold more than 500 million records worldwide.