Paul McCartney Tells Story of ‘Wings: A Band on the Run’ in New Book
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Paul McCartney (Photo © Mary McCartney; used with permission)
Paul McCartney has announced a new book about his longtime band, Wings, based on dozens of hours of interviews with the star and numerous key players in the group’s orbit. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, with McCartney listed as its author, and edited by the prize-winning historian Ted Widmer, arrives on November 4, 2025, via book publisher Liveright. It’s available for pre-order in the U.S. here and in the U.K., via Allen Lane Books, here.
“I’m so very happy to be transported back to the time that was Wings and relive some of our madcap adventures through this book,” said McCartney in the Feb. 26 announcement. “Starting from scratch after The Beatles felt crazy at times. There were some very difficult moments and I often questioned my decision. But as we got better I thought, ‘OK this is really good.’ We proved Wings could be a really good band. To play to huge audiences in the same way The Beatles had and have an impact in a different way. It was a huge buzz.”
More from the announcement: As the Sixties came to a close, Paul McCartney was faced with the daunting prospect of being a solo artist for the first time. Wings’ ascension to the top of the charts with classic albums including Band on the Run, Venus and Mars and At the Speed of Sound, along with the band’s stadium-filling live shows would prove to critics and fans that not all great acts are impossible to follow. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run is a rousing, stereophonic celebration of the songs, collaborations and performances that would shape the soundtrack of the late 20th century.
Wings in 1976 (Photo © 1976 MPL Communications Ltd. by Clive Arrowsmith)
Drawn from over 500,000 words, the 528-page book weaves together the improbable trajectory of McCartney and his newly formed band (featuring co-founding members Linda McCartney and Denny Laine) across the technicolor 1970s until their dissolution in 1981.
Organized by Widmer around nine Wings albums, the oral history sheds new light on the immediate aftermath of the seismic global impact of The Beatles’ break-up, as the musical landscape and tastes began to splinter and diverge along with societal views. The narrative follows the various incarnations of the band as they survive a mugging in Nigeria, appear unannounced at U.K. university halls, tour in a sheared-off school bus with their children, while producing some of the most indelible and acclaimed music of the decade, including: “Mull of Kintyre,” “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “My Love,” “Jet,” “With a Little Luck,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Let ‘Em in,” “Junior’s Farm” and more.
Wings (Photo © 1972 MPL Communications Ltd.)
With more than 100 black-and-white and color photographs, many never seen before, the 528-page Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run is part of a larger reexamination and appreciation of the group and their catalog, including the 2024 theatrical release of the rare Wings live-in-studio performance film One Hand Clapping and its accompanying album; 50th anniversary editions of the Wings albums Band on the Run (released February 2024) and Venus and Mars (releasing March 2025); and a forthcoming documentary on Paul McCartney’s solo and Wings-related musical work of the 1970s from Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Morgan Neville.
“Wings was about love, family, friendship and artistic growth, often in the face of tremendous adversity,” said Widmer. “It was a joy to relive the madcap adventures of a special band, by listening to their stories, and compiling this oral history.”
The announcement offered a charming bio of its author in three short sentences: Born in Liverpool in 1942, Paul McCartney was raised in the city and educated at the Liverpool Institute. Since writing his first song at 14, McCartney has dreamed and dared to be different. He lives in England.
Widmer is also a former White House speechwriter. His most recent book is Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington.
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2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationGlad to hear that McCartney is embracing his time with Wings. Now would be the right time to release the long overdue archive editions of London Town and Back To The Egg.
There’s a new book about the Thunderclap Newman. Jimmy McCulloch who played with the Wings between 1974-77 was their guitarist. Pete Townshend was their producer and played bass on their records. They had number one hit record Something In The Air in 1969. Jimmy was only 16 then. In the book you can read what he did before and after the Wings. He died in 1979 and was only 26.