Paul McCartney Opens Up About The 'Emotional Pain' Of The Beatles' Breakup

When John Lennon left The Beatles in 1970, Paul McCartney was left with two choices. He could continue the band without one of the main songwriters or he could let the group disband. The Beatles broke up because Lennon's departure shortly before marrying Yoko Ono in 1969 brought up too much "emotional pain" for McCartney.

"When families break up, it's to do with the emotion and the emotional pain," McCartney said, according to Daily Mail. "You can't just think of a smart idea like that at the time. You're hurting too much so it wasn't going to happen."

Lennon and McCartney, who co-founded The Beatles, were recognized as the band's songwriters. Their sound developed over the years and towards the end, The Beatles were playing songs that defied genres of the time. Harrison played a role in writing many songs but McCartney said he did not receive due credit.

'It was easy to underestimate George because me and John had always written most of the stuff," McCartney said. "But then he started to get interested — and boy did he bloom. He wrote some of the greatest songs ever."

The Beatles hit the pinnacle of their career around the same time as The Rolling Stones did and the media created a rivalry between the two by drawing comparisons between the bands. Upon pressing the topic, McCartney pointed out that there was no real contest because their sound was so different from The Rolling Stones.

"They’re so rooted in the blues and so when they’re writing stuff it’s to do with the blues," he said. "Whereas we had a little more influences. Keith [Richards] once said to me, 'Man, you were lucky. You had four singers in your band.' And he said, 'We got one.' So, there’s a lot of differences."

That being said, McCartney still believes The Beatles were the better of the two bands.

"I love The Stones but I’m with you [Stern] – The Beatles were better," he said. "We still are [friends] and we admire each other."