No encore for Paul McCartney's son
Choosing to follow Sir Paul McCartney into the music business has not been an easy path for his son James, who is struggling to emulate the success enjoyed by the former Beatle.
Last week James, 38, was met with a mediocre response from customers when he sang and played guitar at a small pub, The Islington, in North London. Only a handful of the audience remained to see the end of his performance and there were certainly no calls for an encore. A blonder, less confident version of Paul, James has found it hard to make his own name in the music business; he finds playing live on stage difficult because of his shyness, and friends say he is constantly aware of living in his father’s shadow.
While his sisters, Stella and Mary, have prospered from their father’s fame, Sir Paul’s only son often refused to tell new friends his surname when he worked as a waiter in Brighton. Like the rest of the family, he is a strict vegan, but has had issues in the past with his weight. James was 19 and an art student when his mother Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer.
He found therapy in playing the guitar and, a month before Linda’s death in 1998, he recorded a track with her, The Light Comes From Within. When she died, he slept in the same room as his father for weeks as the two men struggled to get over their loss.
By: Adam Helliker
Source: The Express
