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Paul McCartney is looking back on his time fronting the band Wings after leaving the Beatles.
The musician, 82, has announced a new book about the hitmaking group, set to hit shelves this fall. Edited by historian Ted Widmer, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run will examine the group’s chart-topping success and their impact on the post-Beatles musical landscape.
The 528 page oral history details the rise of the band formed by McCartney and his wife Linda McCartney in 1971. The group, which featured various band members over the years, including guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell, ascended with albums like 1973’s Band on the Run, 1974’s Venus and Mars and 1976’s At the Speed of Sound, and had a number of hit songs, including “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run” and “Silly Love Songs.”
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Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run draws on hours of interviews with McCartney and other members of the band’s circle, and includes over 100 photographs, many of which have never been seen before.
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“I’m so very happy to be transported back to the time that was Wings and relive some of our madcap adventures through this book,” McCartney says in a statement. “Starting from scratch after The Beatles felt crazy at times. There were some very difficult moments, and I often questioned my decision. But as we got better, I thought, ‘OK this is really good.’”
“We proved Wings could be a really good band,” McCartney added. “To play to huge audiences in the same way the Beatles had and have an impact in a different way. It was a huge buzz.”
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The book announcement comes in the midst of a larger celebration of the band, who dissolved in 1981. In 2024, a restored edition of Wings’ studio performance film One Hand Clapping hit theaters. A 50th anniversary edition of Venus and Mars will be released in March, and there’s a forthcoming documentary on McCartney’s solo work, including Wings, in development from filmmaker Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?).
Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run adds to the conversation, and is “a landmark account of Paul McCartney’s triumphant musical reinvention in the 1970s and the subsequent rise of one of the decade’s most iconic bands,” per the statement.
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“Wings was about love, family, friendship and artistic growth, often in the face of tremendous adversity,” says Widmer. “It was a joy to relive the madcap adventures of a special band, by listening to their stories and compiling this oral history.”
Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run will be published on Nov. 4 and is now available for preorder.
