Paul McCartney and his late wife, American photographer Linda McCartney (née Eastman), had a love story for the ages. The couple first met in 1967 and married in March 1969.
They were together until she lost her battle with breast cancer in 1998.
An animal rights activist, Linda’s love for animals was part of what made Paul love her. In a recent interview on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, he got emotional while discussing her “Disney-esque” treatment of all creatures.
McCartney sheds tears talking about Linda
During the interview, Poehler and McCartney discuss Linda in reference to his 2026 documentary, Paul McCartney: Man on the Run.
“She [was] like a crazy vegetarian, so we had that in common,” Paul tells Poehler. “And Linda was very outspoken on that subject. To the point where, if it hadn’t been her, it would have been embarrassing. You know, if you’re at a dinner party and someone was eating meat, she would, like, give them trouble over it.”
He went on to role-play her, saying, “‘You know what you’re eating? Well, it’s mommy loved it,’” adding a fist pump and a “Bang!” to emphasize her point.
“She was very ahead of her time,” Poehler says. “You were both ahead.”
McCartney continues, “She had this Disney-esque view of animals. So if we saw like a frog in a garden or something, she’d pick it up. You know, there’s not something every girl would [do]. She’d pick it up on the way.”
As he recounts the story, McCartney starts to choke up. “I’m getting emotional,” he says. “But the way she would hold it, she wouldn’t hurt it.”
McCartney waves his hand in front of his face as he grows more emotional, pausing to take a few deep breaths.
“Beautiful,” Poehler tells him. “I loved learning more about you and Linda in that documentary. I loved watching you two work together and be together. It was really a testament to just what respectful, beautiful, mutual love looks like.”
While wiping away tears, McCartney replies, “Yeah. She was something else. Tough, tough lady.”
Paul and Linda’s love story
The couple worked together on several creative projects during their relationship. They formed the iconic rock group Paul McCartney and Wings, where Linda played keyboards and sang harmony vocals with Paul.
“Looking back at the records we made together, I think our harmonies were a really individual sound, and a very special sound. Probably because she wasn’t a professional singer, that gave her an innocence to her tone that comes through on the records,” he shared in 2021. “I’d be singing ‘hands across the water,’ and she’d echo ‘water, water’ and do this funny little American accent, and we’d put it in! We were having fun.”
Linda was an accomplished photographer and was the first woman to have her work featured on the cover of Rolling Stone. In September 2026, the United States Postal Service announced it would release stamps featuring her nature and still-life photos.
Paul and Linda had four children together (Heather, whom Paul adopted, Mary, Stella, and James) before she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995. McCartney has often shared his grief:
“I think I cried for about a year on and off. You expect to see them walk in, this person you love, because you are so used to them. I cried a lot,” McCartney told the BBC in 2019. “It was almost embarrassing, except it seemed the only thing to do.”
