Paul McCartney Returns to Capitol Records

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Paul McCartney at Capitol Records (via his Facebook)

Paul McCartney at Capitol Records (Photo via Capitol Music Group)

For Paul McCartney, it was time to get back. The classic rock legend has signed a worldwide recording agreement with Capitol Records, marking a return to his and The Beatles‘ longtime home. The deal was announced today (Aug. 17) by Capitol Music Group (CMG) Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett.

In the announcement, McCartney says, “This is genuinely exciting for me. Not only was Capitol my first U.S. record label, but the first record I ever bought was Gene Vincent’s ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ on the Capitol label.”

This historic contract encompasses McCartney’s entire body of post-Beatles work, from his 1970 McCartney album, through his decade with Wings, to the dozens of solo and collaborative works that have continually reaffirmed his standing as one of the most popular, influential and acclaimed artists in the history of recorded music. In a career that spans six decades, McCartney has sold more than 500 million records worldwide. He was recently named the United Kingdom’s most successful albums artist of all time by the Official Albums Chart Company and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for his services to music.

Here’s McCartney performing one of his huge solo hits at the 2004 Glastonbury Music Festival…

Paul McCartney is the recipient of countless accolades and awards. He is a 21-time Grammy winner, two-time inductee into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, an Academy Award winner and honoree of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors, the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song and France’s Légion d’Honneur.

McCartney is currently working on a new studio album, while a comprehensive plan for the artist’s catalog is being conceived by Capitol and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) – in conjunction with the artist and his management team – and will be implemented beginning July 2017. The catalog moves to Capitol/UMe from Concord, Paul’s previous label partner on such Grammy-winning albums as Band On The Run (Best Historical Album, 2012), Kisses On The Bottom (Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 2013) and Wings Over America (Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, 2014).

McCartney completes his widely successful One on One tour of arenas, stadiums and festivals on August 18. He resumes with two dates in Sacramento on October 4-5 before playing the two Desert Trip festival weekends in Indio, CA.

According to Barnett, “Paul McCartney’s association with Capitol has long defined so much of our historic legacy, and all of us here are extremely proud and honored that he has chosen to come back home. Paul’s indelible contributions to our culture are second to none, and his constant evolution as an artist and performer continues to inspire and enrich the lives of countless millions of people. We are overjoyed that Paul will be creating new music for years to come, and that Capitol will be helping to present it to the world.”

Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, said, “It would be simply impossible to overstate what an honor it is to welcome Paul back to Capitol. It’s a homecoming of one of the greatest musical artists of all time to the label that first helped bring his incredible music to the world. Paul’s astonishing career has shown no limits — in creativity, in commercial longevity, and in its impact on people and cultures in every corner of the globe. We are thrilled at both Capitol and UMG to be able to contribute to the next chapter in Paul’s extraordinary career.”