Paul McCartney has rarely taken time off. In fact, well into his 80s, the former Beatle and rock star still tours semi-regularly and knows how to put on one heck of a live show. Surprisingly, though, there was a time when McCartney really didn’t feel like performing live. And we’re not talking about The Beatles’ inevitable retirement from live music, several years before they officially broke up. Rather, we’re talking about a 10-year period from 1979 to 1989 in which McCartney refused to tour.
In a way, we understand where he was coming from. The Beatles’ tours were intense, to say the least. Few live performances from The Beatles’ past are completely audible over all the shrieking. McCartney even openly admitted that he was not a fan of live performances, even with Wings.
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“It had been sort of brewing, this distaste for schlepping around and playing in the rain with the danger of electricity killing you,” McCartney once said in an interview. “You kind of just look at yourself and go, ‘Wait a minute, I’m a musician, you know. I’m not a rag doll for children to scream at.’”
When Wings wrapped up their final UK tour in 1979, McCartney ceased to tour as well. So, naturally, when Macca returned to the stage with a massive world tour in 1989, fans were shocked. Happy, but shocked. What changed the former Beatle’s mind?
Apparently, The Grateful Dead changed Paul McCartney’s mind.
How The Grateful Dead Inspired Paul McCartney To Tour Again
Paul McCartney loudly and proudly proclaimed at a press conference that it was the iconic jam band The Grateful Dead that inspired him to tour again. No, it wasn’t Ringo Starr’s recent (at the time) resurgence nor other 1960s bands getting back together for reunion concerts. It was The Grateful Dead that spurred Paul McCartney to hit the stage yet again.
“I’ll tell you who prompted me was the Grateful Dead,” Paul McCartney said at a press conference at the time. “If Jerry can still do it that good, there’s hope for us all.”
Specifically, it was Jerry Garcia’s dedication to performing for his “deadheads” that inspired McCartney to get off his butt and back on stage. Garcia rarely took breaks from touring, ever. Even after suffering from the effects of diabetes that landed him in a temporary coma in 1986, he sped through his recovery to get back on the road with his band. He embodied his band and his craft, all the way until his death in 1995.
And with that, McCartney set off for his 1989 world tour, which spanned a whopping 103 concerts and ran all the way through 1990. The iconic English singer was back in action, and we have Jerry Garcia to thank for that.
Photo by Neville Marriner/Daily Mail/Shutterstock
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