Paul McCartney wishes a happy birthday to his late father James and to bandmate RIngo Starr / Instagram
Friday was a very meaningful day for the families of Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. On June 7, McCartney said happy birthday to two very important people in his life: his late father James McCartney, and his Beatles bandmate Ringo.
Together with John Lennon and George Harrison, McCartney and Starr oversaw the formation of the Beatles in 1960 and the band enjoyed unprecedented fanfare throughout the decade. As for McCartney’s father, he had been absent for his birth – because he was serving as a volunteer firefighter during World War II. To this day, McCartney counts both his father and his bandmate as some of his greatest heroes.
On Friday, McCartney took to Instagram to say a heartfelt happy birthday message to Starr and his own departed father. “Happy Birthday to two of my heroes,” he captioned his post. “It’s Ringo and my Dad’s birthday so let’s have a great day to celebrate these two great people – Paul.”
McCartney shared two photos with the post; the first is of Starr seated at the bottom of a staircase with a dog behind him. In the picture, Starr is smiling at the camera behind a wide set of lenses while he flashes a peace sign.
Meanwhile, for his father, McCartney shared a picture from when he himself was a baby in his mother’s arms. Standing beside McCartney’s mother, Mary Patricia (née Mohin), is James “Jim” McCartney. Both are looking refined in comfortable formalwear as they pose outside in the black and white shot.
In addition to being half of the equation that brought McCartney into the world, James also served as a source of inspiration for the future international sensation. Peter Ames Carlin, McCartney’s biographer, would write that both of McCartney’s parents started at the “lowest rungs of the working class” before climbing up over the course of their lifetimes. Working for cotton merchants A. Hannay and Co., James started as a sample boy at the warehouse before being promoted to a salesperson.
During the war, he worked to maintain and adjust machines for a defense engineering firm and at night he volunteered for the fire brigade. His income decreased when James returned to his cotton merchant work; Mary’s work as a midwife helped support the family. Meanwhile, James’s own relentless interest in music meant there were always instruments in the house, setting the stage for what would eventually create Beatlemania. Ultimately, James McCartney died in 1976.
As Ringo, who just turned last week, he wants everyone to celebrate him by celebrating togetherness. It’s a birthday wish he’s had since 2008, as part of his annual Peace & Love event.
“Really without thinking, I said, ‘I would like them all to go, ‘Peace and love,’ at noon on my birthday, 7/7, seventh day of the seventh month,” he explained. “That’s how it started. We’ve been doing it now for so many years. And now I’ve upped it a bit because I say, ‘You can say peace and love or you can just think peace and love.’ So any way, you’re winning.”
Peace, love, and happy birthday to both extraordinary men.
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