Paul McCartney joins Zane Lowe on Apple Music to discuss his new album, McCartney III. He tells Apple Music how creating the album during quarantine saved him, wanting to release the album before the end of 2020, the period following John Lennon’s departure from The Beatles, forming Wings, and eventually repairing his relationship with Lennon before his tragic death. He also discusses music’s continued evolution, being a vegetarian, and shares his favorite Beatles songs.

Video highlight and quotes below courtesy of Zane Lowe on Apple Music. Watch the interview in full on Apple Music here.

McCartney on the period following The Beatles' breakup: "It was a difficult period. Here was this band that I've been in a lot of my life, and these guys who were my best buddies ever, and suddenly we'd split off and we weren't working together. And so we're each in our separate homes, and I was in mine, as I say, having just met Linda and there was a romantic element to it, and there was a new discovery of thinking about a family. So all of that was very nice.

On John Lennon leaving The Beatles: "...you climb the ladder of success till you become this phenomenal success, hugest thing ever, in the Beatles and that's your whole identity. And then suddenly someone switches the light off and it's like, "Whoa, okay." Now..."

Zane Lowe: Looking back on it now, do you think subconsciously or in a subterranean way, you knew there was something there that wasn't clicking with John or did it really just knock you for six?

McCartney: "No, we'd always had arguments because any family, any group, you argue. I mean, not crazy ones, but just like, "That guitar's too loud." "Oh, no it isn't." "I think it is. I think you shouldn't play there." "Well, I want to play there." "I don't think it fits with the song." "Well, I do.” You have those kind of little things. So there was a bit of that, maybe a little more than usual, but nothing major. But then I think we had the idea it was sort of coming full circle somehow, but very gently. There was no big bust up and we just happened to have a little meeting, a group meeting one day, when John walked in and he said, "I'm leaving the group." So it was that sudden. You didn't want to say, "What do you mean?" Because you knew exactly what he meant. He meant… And looking back on it, I think, well, he'd just hooked up with Yoko and he was in a completely new track for his life. He had a strong woman. He loved strong women. He had a strong woman he could admire. He loved experimentation and here was Yoko saying, " Let's take all our clothes off for the album cover." That's the kind of thing appealed to John. He's like, "Yeah, whoa." Just this radical behavior. So looking back on it, you can see that he had to just clear the decks and say, "Okay guys, we've done our bit. It was terrific. It was wonderful. But I'm off.” Having said that, that's looking back on it. Actually, at the time it was like, "Whoa, is this final?" And we puttered around for a couple of weeks thinking, "Does he mean it?" And we'd ring each other? He said, 'Well, I don't know, are we really finished?'”

Paul McCartney's all-new all-Paul album, McCartney III, is out now.

Paul’s first new album since 2018’s #1 charting Egypt Station, McCartney III is a stripped back, self-produced and, quite literally, solo work in the tradition of 1970’s McCartney and 1980’s McCartney II. Recorded earlier this year during “Rockdown” in Sussex, McCartney III is mostly built from live takes of Paul on vocals and guitar or piano, overdubbing his bass playing, drumming, etc. atop that foundation. The process first sparked when Paul returned to an unreleased track from the early 90s, "When Winter Comes" (co-produced by George Martin). Paul crafted a new passage for the song, giving rise to album opener "Long Tailed Winter Bird" - while "When Winter Comes", featuring its new 2020 intro "Winter Bird", became the new album’s grand finale.