Paul McCartney has responded to fan questions on his website and shared the secret to his longest lineup ever.
A fan asked on the website what made the lineup of Rusty Anderson, Brian Ray, Abe Laboriel Jr., and Wix Wickens so special to him.
“Thank you, Ross. It’s funny, because we get on so well,” he admitted. “You used to hear, particularly in the ‘70s, of bands breaking up and arguing and not lasting. But with this one, we just get on really well.”
“I think everyone knows that I’m kind of like the governor, so that makes it easier, and we don’t have arguments,” the bassist revealed. “We just get on with it. And the band are such good players. We’ve got it now so we can play, we can discuss things, and we can make decisions within the band. And it works well – we’ve been together now for over 20 years, which is crazy!”
Ray, Anderson, Wickens, and Laboriel Jr. have been with McCartney longer than both The Beatles and Wings. Wickens has been with McCartney since his return to touring in 1989. McCartney admitted that it took him a while to realize the depth of their connection. “A couple of years ago, I kind of looked at them and said: ‘You know what guys? We’re a band. We’re a real band,’” the bassist told KCSN ten years ago. “I think up until then we’d just been thinking: ‘We’re getting together, and playing some songs.’ But we’re a band now — and that elevated our performance, I think. When we realized that, we sort of felt so much better about what we were doing.”
In other news, McCartney recently reunited with Ringo Starr. The drummer played two fan-favorite tracks at the final concert of McCartney’s Got Back tour in London on December 19.
Ringo Starr had previously reunited with Paul McCartney for a performance of the track at a London show in 2018 and again at Dodger Stadium in 2019.
