Raised in Liverpool, England

Met George Harrison; pair rode same school bus

Introduced to John Lennon; invited to join Lennon's band, The Quarrymen

George Harrison invited to join The Quarrymen

The Quarrymen performed at Casbah, a coffehouse owned by Pete Best's mother

The Quarrymen renamed Long John and the Silver Beatles; toured Scotland and then played Hamburg, Germany where it's discovered Harrison is underage

Brian Epstein becomes the Beatles' manager

Played bass, guitar, sang and composed for The Beatles

Pete Best is replaced by Ringo Starr as the band's drummer

Film acting debut in "A Hard Day's Night"; also wrote songs and performed them on soundtrack

Appeared in (also co-wrote and directed) TV Beatles special, "Magical Mystery Tour"

Formed recording studio Apple Corps

Filed lawsuit to formally disolve the group, The Beatles; suit settled in March 1971

Contributed song "Come and Get It" to feature, "The Magic Christian"

Released first solo album, McCartney

Executive produced Beatles film, "Let It Be"; also contributed songs and acted; shared Oscar for Best Adapted Score

Formed new group, Wings

With wife Linda, charged with drug possession; later fined for growing cannabis on his Scotish farm

Composed theme music for American feature, "Live and Let Die"

Produced feature, "Empty Hand" and created abstract percussion music; concert film "Wings Over America" made (released in 1981)

Produced animated film, "The Oriental Nightfish"

Arrested in Tokyo for marijuana possession

Scripted, acted in, performed own songs and composed and arranged music for feature, "Give My Regards to Broad Street"

Michael Jackson bought publishing rights to many Beatles songs; McCartney is sued for royalties by Harrison, Starr and Yoko Ono

Narrated BBC documentary "The Power of Music"

Debuted first classical composition, "Liverpool Oratorio" in Liverpool, England; concert film "Paul McCartney's Get Back" released

His controversial protest song, "Bad Boys Bickering" is banned from MTV for obscenity

Appeared on "The Beatles Anthology" (ABC); premiered second classical work, "The Leaf"

Made the documentary short, "Grateful Dead - A Photofilm"; served as director and supervising editor

Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

Performed solo concert at the Cavern Club in Liverpool where the Beatles first played

In conjunction with release of album "Wingspan", co-executive produced and starred in the ABC documentary of the same name which profiled his life with his late wife Linda

Lent his voice to the animated short "Tuesday"

Wrote the title song for the feature "Vanilla Sky"; garnered a Best Original Song Academy Award nomination

Toured America in support of his album "Driving Rain"

Received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Eric Clapton

Earned three Grammy nominations for his album Chaos and Creation In the Backyard

Released the album, "Chaos and Creation in The Backyard," which earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the single Jenny Wren

Became the first artist signed to Starbucks Corp.'s new record label, the Los Angeles-based Hear Music; first album released Memory Almost Full; earned three Grammy nominations

Earned two Grammy nominations for his album Amoeba's Secret