Paul McCartney's Love Life: The Women Behind the Beatle’s Most Iconic Songs

During the age of Beatlemania, the personal lives of the Fab Four were under constant scrutiny, and countless girls dreamed of being married to Paul McCartney. To the disappointment of many, McCartney was engaged to actress Jane Asher at the height of the Beatles’ fame in the ’60s, and he went on to be married three times, and famously had an enduring musical partnership with his first wife, photographer turned Wings cofounder Linda McCartney.

After his wife Linda’s untimely death, Paul married his second wife, Heather Mills, but the marriage didn’t last very long, and was plagued by tabloid scandal. Currently, McCartney is happily married to Nancy Shevell. Read on to take a deep dive into the musical icon’s marriages and learn which songs he wrote about the women in his life.

Paul McCartney’s early loves

In 1959, Paul McCartney began dating Dot Rhone, a local Liverpool girl. They briefly became engaged when she unexpectedly got pregnant in 1960, but called it off after she had a miscarriage and were officially broken up by 1962. McCartney also admitted to having several affairs during the Beatles’ early days in Hamburg, Germany, while he was engaged to Rhone.

There was some girlfriend-swapping among the lads in their early days, as McCartney briefly dated Thelma Pickles, who had previously dated John Lennon, and Iris Caldwell, who had dated George Harrison.

Paul McCartney’s Beatlemania fiancée: Jane Asher

McCartney had a relationship with Jane Asher, who appeared in films like The Masque of the Red Death, Alfie and Deep End, from 1963 to 1968. The redheaded actress was just 17 when she met McCartney backstage at a Beatles concert while working for a BBC music program, and the relationship quickly got serious, as McCartney moved into the Asher family home in London and lived there for three years as the Beatles rose to stardom.

In 1967, McCartney and Asher got engaged, but tensions arose in their partnership due to the Beatles’ astronomical fame and McCartney’s drug use. The final straw came in 1968 when she caught him cheating on her with Francie Schwartz. Asher announced their breakup on a BBC talk show and Schwartz went on to write Body Count, a book covering their fling, in 1972.

McCartney wrote a number of songs capturing the highs and lows of his relationship with Asher, including “And I Love Her,” “You Won’t See Me,” “I’m Looking Through You,” “What You’re Doing,” “Things We Said Today” and “For No One.”

While Asher has steadfastly refused to discuss her relationship with McCartney, the Beatle has said that his time with her gave him a major source of inspiration and while living with her family, “There were people there and food and a homey atmosphere, and Jane being my girlfriend, it was kind of perfect.”

Paul McCartney’s longest-lasting love: Linda McCartney

In 1967, McCartney first met Linda Eastman, a photographer, at a Georgie Fame concert in London. They then crossed paths a few times in London and New York City, and in 1968, following McCartney’s breakup with Asher, they became a couple.

McCartney and Eastman married in 1969, with Linda taking Paul’s name. Paul adopted Linda’s daughter, Heather, from her previous marriage, and she went on to become an artist. Paul and Linda then had three children: Mary, a photographer and cookbook author; Stella, a popular fashion designer; and James, a musician. Paul was a devoted family man, and he and Linda spent much of the ’70s at their remote Scottish farmhouse, where they lived a low-key life that couldn’t have been further from the Beatle days.

Linda was already an accomplished artist when she met Paul, and after the Beatles broke up in 1970, the couple became musical collaborators when Paul taught her to play the keyboard. In 1971, they released Ram, their first and only album as a duo, and they then formed the band Wings and had much musical success throughout the ’70s.

Paul wrote many sweet songs about Linda, among them “Two of Us,” “The Lovely Linda,” “My Love” and of course, one of the most legendary love songs of all time, “Maybe I’m Amazed.”

Tragically, Linda died of breast cancer in 1998 at age 56. Paul said that during their three decades of marriage, they only spent less than one week apart when he was jailed for drug charges in 1980.

Following Linda’s untimely death, Paul said, “I was very privileged to have 30 years with a very beautiful, strong, unusual, amazingly talented woman . . . In many, many ways I was blessed to know this woman.”

Paul McCartney’s most scandalous romance: Heather Mills

McCartney met Heather Mills, a model and activist for amputees (she lost her leg when she was hit by a police motorcycle in 1993), at a charity event in 1999. They began dating the next year and he married Heather Mills in 2002. Their marriage drew much attention from the media, as McCartney was 26 years her senior and Mills had frequently been accused of misrepresenting herself and embellishing her life story, and consistently courted tabloid attention.

McCartney wrote the songs “Heather,” “Too Much Rain” and “See Your Sunshine” about Mills, and they had a daughter, Beatrice, who lives a life outside of the spotlight.

Mills and McCartney separated in 2006 and divorced in 2008. The messy divorce was breathlessly covered in the press, with many fans accusing Mills of being after McCartney’s money and expressing disbelief that the couple never signed a prenuptial agreement. Other chaotic moments during the divorce included Mills saying rude things about his daughter Stella McCartney and dumping a pitcher of water on Paul’s lawyer’s head. Mills walked away with $50 million in the divorce settlement, though she had originally asked for even more.

After his divorce, McCartney said, “It’s been a difficult time. But music is a great healer. Music is therapy for me. In fact, going through difficulties has only concentrated my desire to make good music.”

Paul McCartney’s current wife: Nancy Shevell

McCartney met Nancy Shevell—also his junior, but this time by only 17 years—while they were vacationing at their respective Hamptons summer houses in 2007 and started dating shortly thereafter. Shevell was the vice president of her family’s transportation conglomerate, New England Motor Freight, and served on the board of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Shevell and McCartney married in 2011 at Marylebone Town Hall in London, and have remained a happy, drama-free couple ever since. Their relationship inspired him to write the song “My Valentine.”

Reflecting on his marriage, McCartney said, “I try to be helpful as a husband . . . If there’s a problem, I like to be the guy that will lend some strength to it. I’m always very happy to be the person Nancy relies on, and to be her strength when she goes through tough times. I am very proud, in fact, to be ‘The Guy’ there. And I know she is grateful. So, that’s my role as a husband: it’s to be the strength and the romance at the same time. I don’t think I consciously chose to be that way. It’s just how I do things.”

Read on for more about the Beatles!

The Beatles 1964 Timeline: A Year in the Life of the Fab Four Revealed in Words and Dozens of Photos

The Beatles’ ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ Turns 60: ‘The First Movie Made for the Soundtrack!’

‘How Beatlemania Changed the Course of My Life’ — A Personal Journey