Sir James Paul McCartney, born June 18, 1942, is the single most successful music artist of all time. He found worldwide fame as the bass player and vocalist for The Beatles, and has continued to enjoy commercial success long after the band’s breakup.

His post-Beatles projects—the most lucrative of which was the band Wings, alongside then-wife Linda Eastman—have been met with mixed critical reception but he still retains a substantial public following, regularly conducting worldwide arena tours well into his later years.

His album sales with The Beatles, Wings and solo endeavours combined come to over 100 million, and his net worth was estimated to be approximately $1.2 billion circa 2018. He was knighted in 1997 and is known for his activism.