Why Paul McCartney Continues To Out-Earn Stars Half His Age

Paul McCartney

Earlier this week, on a steamy night at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, tens of thousands of fans hung on Paul McCartney’s every phrase–and, it seemed, he was equally interested in theirs.

“I love that people bring out these signs,” he said, reading one aloud: CONCERT #25, SPENDING OUR KIDS’ INHERITANCE! “You’re trying to play the chords andread the signs. One side [of your brain] says, ‘Read the sign!’ The other side says, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ If I get it wrong, I’m going to blame the signs.”

McCartney has seen many signs over his half-century-plus career–among them, plenty of dollar signs. He’s earned $350 million pretax over the past six years alone, making five appearances on our Celebrity 100 list along the way. Over the past 12 months, FORBES estimates McCartney pulled in $56.5 million, more than superstars half his age including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Drake.  

At 74, he’s more than three times Bieber’s age.

So how does the former Beatle do it? Touring is a big part. McCartney played 31 shows during our June 2015 to June 2016 scoring period, grossing nearly $4 million per city, according to Pollstar. It’s not a staggering amount of shows, but it’s more than Beyonce or Jay Z or Jennifer Lopez played during the same time frame. He maintains his own youthful spirit and collaborates with younger stars, from Michael Jackson in the 1980s to Kanye West and Rihanna more recently.

McCartney makes sure he’s delivering a top-notch product. Unlike many of his peers who show up hours late to their own shows and play sets of an hour or less, McCartney is punctual–and typically plays for nearly three hours. He may not be able to hit some of the notes he once did, but he can still rock, and he makes the audience feel like a true part of the show.

In Philadelphia, the concert was as much a performance as a master’s class. McCartney led the crowd in singalongs, explained his songwriting process and spent the time between the likes of “Yesterday” and “Live And Let Die” explaining the inspiration for various hits by both the Beatles and Wings. It seemed that if nobody would pay him millions of dollars to perform, he’d spend evenings in his den playing the piano and reminiscing with friends.

McCartney recalled how nervous he was when producer George Martin asked him to sing a line on “Love Me Do” so that John Lennon could play the harmonica. He explained that he wrote “Blackbird” to give hope to the oppressed people of the American south during the Civil Rights movement. He talked about the time the Beatles played a show in Moscow and the Soviet defense minister told him “Love Me Do” was the first record he ever bought. These are stories that many hardcore fans may already know, but it’s still a treat to hear McCartney tell them in person.

To be sure, he doesn’t do any extensive dance numbers like Beyonce or Perry; his main motion involves walking from piano to guitar. And he doesn’t spend the show strutting across the stage like Bieber or Drake, or even his fellow septuagenarians in the Rolling Stones.

Mick Jagger takes you to his bedroom; McCartney takes you to his living room. 

But that’s a place where millions of people want to be, and the intimacy keeps them coming back.

Toward the end of his Philadelphia show, McCartney called a few fans to the stage. First, there was a couple with matching signs declaring they’d get engaged on the spot if McCartney brought them up; he did, and they did. Then he summoned the lady who’d been to 25 shows and gave her a hug before addressing her children.

“Not my fault she spent it,” shrugged McCartney. “Tell them Uncle Paul says, ‘Hi.’”

Culled from Forbes