When it comes to success in the music industry, Paul McCartney is the epitome of it. McCartney’s list of accolades is just about endless. Frankly, in the industry, there are very few things McCartney hasn’t accomplished. And that isn’t just thanks to his time with The Beatles. As most know, after The Beatles broke up, McCartney went on to pursue a solo career and eventually started Wings in 1971. Wings never surpassed The Beatles in terms of cultural success. However, they were an incredible band in their own right.
Wings scored their own decorated set of accolades. During its lifespan, Wings won six Grammys, scored six No. 1 hits, and is viewed as one of the premier rock ‘n’ roll bands of the 1970s. However, there is one world record they broke that often gets swept under the rug. That world record is when Wings broke the largest attendance for an indoor crowd on June 10, 1976.
Another Accolade for Sir Paul McCartney
By 1976, Wings had released hit songs “My Love”, “Live And Let Die”, and “Band On The Run”. In other words, they were one of the biggest bands on the planet and could attract quite a crowd. Well, they did just that on this day in 1976 while performing a show at the Kingdome in Seattle.
When the concert was all said and done, Paul McCartney and Wings had performed in front of more than 67,000 fans, according to The Seattle Times. Prior to Wings’ performance, the other enormous show McCartney played live is when he and The Beatles performed at Shea Stadium in 1965 in front of 55,000 fans. This show set the all-time attendance record for a rock ‘n’ roll show at the time. That being said, McCartney was ecstatic when he learned that he had shattered his own record.
Regarding his excitement, McCartney wrote, per his World Tour Program Book, that “Wings to the Kingdome was pretty interesting because by then we were pretty strong. We broke our own record [Wings played here to 67,000, beating The Beatles’ record at Shea Stadium]. So that was nice, a big pay-off for Wings after all that terror, post-Beatles, that it would never be as good.”
While this is an impressive accolade, it isn’t all that surprising. Paul McCartney is Paul McCartney, and even today, decades after his “prime,” the man can still pack stadiums that sometimes seat more than 70,000 fans.