James McCartney
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| James McCartney | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Louis McCartney |
| Born | 12 September 1977 London, England |
| Genre(s) | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Writer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Drums |
| Years active | 1997-present |
James Louis McCartney was born on 12 September 1977 in London to Paul McCartney of The Beatles and his first wife, rock photographer and animal rights activist Linda McCartney. He is a musician, songwriter and sculptor, living in London, England. He, like older sister Heather McCartney, strives to keep his life private, unlike their top fashion designer sister, Stella McCartney, and photographer sister, Mary McCartney Donald. McCartney also has a much younger half sister, Beatrice Milly McCartney, born in 2003 to his father, and his second wife Heather Mills.
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[edit] Family and personal life
James was named after both his paternal grandfather Jim McCartney and father (whose birth name is James Paul McCartney), as well as Linda's late mother, heiress Louise Linder Eastman. He spent the first two and a half years of his life on the road with his older sisters and his parents, who were in a successful rock group, Wings. After the band broke up in 1980, the McCartneys settled down with their children, who attended the local state secondary school, the Thomas Peacocke Community College in Rye, East Sussex.[1][2][3] In 1989, McCartney, along with his older sisters Mary and Stella, again joined his parents on their world tour. He continued his education with a tutor while on the road.
In 1993, celebrating his sixteenth birthday, McCartney and his friends went out to swim in the sea. When the weather started to get bad, the water currents carried him off. Paul, Linda, and Stella rushed to the site, distraught and helpless. Luckily, McCartney was recovered back to shore safely.
On 17 April 1998, in Tucson, Arizona, James McCartney, along with his father and sisters, was at his mother's side when she died from breast cancer, which had been diagnosed in 1995. Later that year, McCartney graduated from Bexhill College, near his home in East Sussex, where he pursued studies in A Level Art.
James is devoted to his family and famously appeared in support of Stella at her 1999 fashion show (her first show following the death of their mother) seated in their mother's place next to his father.
In 1995, McCartney introduced his older sister Mary to television producer Alistair Donald, the man she would later marry. He has four nephews and one niece: Mary's two sons Arthur Alistair Donald (born 3 April 1999) and Elliot Donald (born 1 August 2002); Stella's son Miller Alasdhair James Willis (born 25 February 2005), her daughter Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis (born 8 December 2006), and son Beckett Robert Lee Willis (born 8 January 2008).
In 1999, McCartney, who is a vegan, wrote a letter to the Governor of Wisconsin to try to prevent the Dairy Expo company from selling cows' milk, which he believes was intended for calves and not for humans to drink. This activism is reminiscent of his late mother, and is shared by his father and sisters.
[edit] Career
James is most notable in the music business for playing guitar and drums as well as co-writing a few songs on some of his father's solo albums, including Flaming Pie (1997) and Driving Rain (2001). On Flaming Pie, he has an impressive electric guitar solo on the track "Heaven on a Sunday." On Driving Rain, he co-wrote the songs "Spinning On An Axis" and "Back In The Sunshine Again" with his father, and played percussion on the former track and guitar on the latter. He also plays lead guitar on his mother's posthumously released solo album, Wide Prairie[4].
In 2005, he was spotted accompanying his father during his American tour.
McCartney is currently recording a solo album with his father, which is expected to be released in 2008.
[edit] Notes
- ^ WALRUSGUMBOOT'S ARCHIVED NEWS: Reluctant McCartney's life as a recluse. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
- ^ BBC NEWS : Education : League Tables : Thomas Peacocke Community College. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
- ^ Thomas Peacocke Community College. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
- ^ Wild Prairie bbc.co.uk 3 September, 1998
