Paul McCartney, 83, Reveals Why He Refuses To Take Photos With His Fans
Paul McCartney recently revealed that he refuses to take photographs with his fans. He opened up about his decision on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, which aired on May 14.
"I say, ‘I'm sorry, I don't do pictures.' And that is like, radical these days," the singer said. "I have a long explanation. Oh God, it goes on. I say, ‘No, I don't like to do that, because it's important to me…' I feel [normalness] is very important to me. The minute I get like, above myself and start thinking I'm something else, I won't like me. So it's very important for me to be sort of just me."
McCartney continued, "There's a guy on the beachfront who's got a monkey, and you pay to have your photo taken with the monkey. So I say, ‘I really do not want to feel like that monkey. And when I take a picture with you, I do feel like him. I'm not me. I'm suddenly something else. It's a phenomenon of how we live now.' And then they go back to their friends and they say, ‘You met Paul McCartney? Did you get a picture?' ‘No, he just went on about some bloody monkey.'"
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The Boys of Dungeon Lane, his newest album, is being released on May 29. It features his first duet with his bandmate from The Beatles, Ringo Starr. The track is called "Home to Us."
When speaking about the album with MOJO magazine, McCartney discussed what it was like to be in a band that had such a strong impact on the world. "I think about that, particularly because people will tell me the story according to their own experience," he said. "So Bruce Springsteen, who I know as a friend, tells a story, and it's a very similar story to what a lot of Americans tell – seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and being really impressed and saying, ‘OK, that's what I want to do with my life.'"
He continued, "[Springsteen] said he came down for breakfast the next day, and he's got his hair combed forward, in a fringe, inspired by what we were doing. It's the same story I heard from Tom Petty – same, you know, fringe-forward. And David Letterman. Loads of people have been affected in that way, and that's lovely that you can have that effect on people."
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 12:36 PM.