Happy birthday, Sir Paul, 75 today

SIR Paul McCartney celebrates his 75th birthday today.

The singer, songwriter and Beatles legend has had a career spanning 55 years as one of the most famous stars the UK music industry has ever produced.

His achievements include being part of the most influential pop group of all time, having penned one of the most covered songs, Yesterday, which has been re-done by more than 2,200 artists, and winning a trophy cabinet full of awards.

Born in Liverpool in 1942, Sir Paul met George Harrison at school and when he was 15 met John Lennon and his band The Quarrymen at a church fete and was invited to join.

Sir Paul and Lennon later branched off on their own, with Harrison joining them along with Stuart Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums.

The group called themselves The Beatles and when Sutcliffe left the band in 1961 Sir Paul took over on bass, and in 1962 Ringo Starr replaced Best as drummer.

Brian Epstein signed The Beatles in 1962 and they had their first hit with Love Me Do later that year.

Sir Paul later formed a new group, Wings, with his wife Linda as one of the members.

Wings went on to have hits with songs including Live And Let Die, and Mull Of Kintyre before they disbanded in 1981.

Linda died in 1998 and he went on to marry Heather Mills in 2002 whom he split from in 2006 and divorced in 2008, and has been married to Nancy Shevell since 2011.

He is a father of five.