Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and composer. A former member of The Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), McCartney is the most commercially successful songwriter in the history of popular music, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

McCartney achieved worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, along with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and wrote some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney began a successful solo career and formed Wings with his first wife Linda Eastman and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. McCartney is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the "most successful musician and composer in the history of popular music", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles in the UK.

BBC News Online readers named McCartney the "greatest composer of the millennium", and BBC News cites his Beatles song "Yesterday" as the most covered song in the history of recorded music — by more than 2,200 artists — and since its release in 1965 it has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio, according to the BBC. Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the best-selling non-charity single in the UK. Based on the 93 weeks his compositions spent at the top of the British chart, and 24 number-one singles, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in the history of the British singles chart. As a performer or songwriter, McCartney has been responsible for 32 number-one singles on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart and has sold 15.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US alone.

McCartney has composed film music, classical and electronic music, released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist and has taken part in projects to aid international charities. He advocates for animal rights, vegetarianism and music education; he is active in campaigns against land mines, seal hunting and third-world debt. He is an avid football fan, supporting Everton and Liverpool. His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all the songs written by Buddy Holly, as well as the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line and Grease. McCartney is one of the richest people in the UK, with an estimated fortune of 475 million pounds sterling in 2010.