Paul McCartney Recalls John Lennon’s Death in New Book

Paul McCartney talked about John Lennon's murder in his new book Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run.

His manager phoned him during the early hours of Dec. 8, 1980.

"It was just too crazy," the 83-year-old wrote in the oral history, according to Us Weekly. "We just said what everyone said; it was all blurred. It was the same as the Kennedy [assassination]. The same horrific moment, you know. You couldn't take it in. I still haven't taken it in. I don't want to."

Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon outside his home in New York City. Lennon was 40 at the time of his death.

The GRAMMY winner said he, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison all went to the studio after hearing what happened. "Nobody could stay home with that news," he said, according to Us Weekly. "We all had to go to work and be with people we knew. Couldn't bear it. We just had to keep going. So, I went in and did a day's work in a kind of shock."

Stella McCartney, his daughter, saw her father take the call. "I remember the biggest reaction I'd ever seen from a phone call, and him leaving the kitchen and going outside," the 54-year-old fashion designer said, per Us Weekly. "I admit it breaks my heart to this day. That was heartbreaking to see."

"I've got that footage in my head for my life," she continued. "I've captured in my head the moment Paul McCartney found out that John Lennon had been murdered."

The two musicians had patched things up before the shooting despite friction after The Beatles' breakup in 1970. 

"One of the great blessings in my life is that we made up," he said in the book, per Us Weekly. "We'd loved each other all our lives, and we'd had our arguments and we'd called each other names. But it had never got any more serious than two brothers in a family."

Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, edited by Ted Widmer, is an oral history based on interviews with the musician and key players from his post-Beatles band. Available now, the book includes conversations with members of the McCartney family and numerous Wings and Beatles collaborators. Fans can learn more on McCartney's website.