Paul McCartney celebrates his birthday at showbiz party
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After being married to Linda McCartney for almost 30 years, Paul McCartney suffered a tremendous loss in 1998 when she died at 56-years-old. The musician, photographer, artist and animal rights activist had been diagnosed with breast cancer just a few years earlier in 1995. The Beatles star had been married to Linda since 1969.
Linda eventually died on April 17, 1998 at the McCartney family ranch in Tucson, Arizona. She was surrounded by McCartney and their four children, Mary, Stella, James and Heather.
Shortly thereafter, Linda was cremated and taken back to England. McCartney spread her ashes on the McCartney family farm in Sussex.
A grief-stricken McCartney released a statement where he revealed his final words to his wife. He told Linda on her deathbed: “You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day. We’re riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is a clear blue.” He added: “I had barely got to the end of the sentence when she closed her eyes and gently slipped away.”
McCartney continued in his statement: “Our family is so close that her passing has left a huge hole in our lives. We will never get over it, but I think we will come to accept it, total heartbreak.”
A memorial service was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, on June 8, 1998. The emotional celebration of Linda’s life was attended by family and close friends, with some famous faces making appearances including George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Billy Joel, Elton John, David Gilmour and Peter Gabriel.
Shortly after Linda’s death, a grief-stricken McCartney released a statement where he revealed his final words to his wife.
He told Linda on her deathbed: “You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day. We’re riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is a clear blue.” He added: “I had barely got to the end of the sentence when she closed her eyes and gently slipped away.”
McCartney continued in his statement: “Our family is so close that her passing has left a huge hole in our lives. We will never get over it, but I think we will come to accept it, total heartbreak.”
At the ceremony, McCartney played some music from The Beatles to commemorate Linda’s passing. And it is perhaps the most meaningful song he had ever written.
He played The Beatles’ Let It Be to remember Linda. This touching tribute was written by Paul back in 1970 for the band’s final album before they split up.
It was a poignant tribute, however, as McCartney wrote the track after dreaming about his mother visiting him in the night. The lyrics “When I find myself in times of trouble / Mother Mary comes to me / speaking words of wisdom… Let it be,” was a direct quote from the visage he experienced.
He added at the time: “I woke up with a great feeling. It was really like she had visited me at this very difficult point in my life and gave me this message: Be gentle, don’t fight things, just try and go with the flow, and it will all work out.”
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Linda McCartney's 25 Years on
McCartney later reflected on how Linda’s death echoed that of his mother. He said: “Both my mum and Linda died of breast cancer. We had no idea what my mum had died of because no one talked about it. She just died.” (sic)
McCartney remembered everyone around him suffering from the grief of losing his mother, Mary, who died on October 31, 1956. He said: “The worse thing about that was everyone was very stoic, everyone kept a stiff upper lip and then one evening you’d hear my dad crying in the next room. It was tragic because we’d never heard him cry. It was a quiet private kind of grief.”
After Linda died, McCartney admitted he “cried for about a year, on and off”. He went on: “You expect to see them walk in, this person you love because you are so used to them.”
He added: “I cried a lot. It was almost embarrassing except it seemed the only thing to do.”
McCartney later explained: “The doctors had told me privately that we’d caught it too late, that she’ll have about 18 months. And that was what she had.”Linda eventually died on April 17, 1998. She was surrounded by McCartney and their four children, Mary, Stella, James and Heather.
McCartney has since spoken about meeting Linda for the first time. “When she came to Britain and we got to together the greatest thing about it was we both wanted to be free,” he remembered. “We did what we wanted and she took pictures of it all.”
He also gushed about never spending one night away from her. McCartney said: “I always think of Linda still as my girlfriend. That’s how we started out in the ’60s, just as friends. Whenever I was working late somewhere, I just never fancied [staying away]. I thought: Well, I could stay overnight in this posh hotel, or I could go home to Linda. And it was always the brighter of the two options: Yeah, go home to Linda.”
He added: “It was just I liked being with her, quite frankly. I think that’s the most difficult thing about losing her, just how much I enjoyed being with her.”
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