He’s spilling the tea as both musicians’ rivalry is unleashed.
Few collaborations in music history have been as successful and creatively brilliant as John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the brains behind The Beatles. While working together helped the band reach new heights, it also stoked a fierce rivalry and animosity between the two legendary musicians.
Even after The Beatles split up, Lennon and McCartney continued their unrelenting competition to outperform one another in their separate projects, which was evident to everyone around them.
Other musicians, like singer-songwriter Paul Simon, who also had a competitive drive, saw and acknowledged the rivalry between Lennon and McCartney. At first, Simon, who Elvis Presley greatly influenced, tried to imitate the Rock and Roll King.
However, upon realizing the futility of directly competing with Elvis’s monumental presence, Simon consciously decided to carve his own distinct path in the music industry. He shared this in the book “Paul Simon: The Life” by Robert Hilburn.
“I realized I had to get as far from what Elvis was doing as I could with my music. I wasn’t going to compete with him because I knew I couldn’t beat him. But I still felt I could make it. I just had to go softer,” he stated.
“Besides, it was very important to me that I not be an imitator of anybody. I wanted my own parade. That’s a competitive drive I had, for whatever reason, whether it was in my nature or it came from my family or from my neighborhood — probably a father thing.”
Similar to this, Lennon and McCartney continuously pushed one another to achieve new creative heights since they both had an innate desire for greatness. John Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia, provided insight into the competitive dynamic inside The Beatles.
According to her, John was seen as the group’s leader, but Paul’s insistence on being involved in all decisions—from song choices to performance locations—showed his persistent desire to exercise power.
“John and Paul had always been competitive. Although the other band members — and the audience — knew that John was the group’s leader, Paul wanted to be involved in all the decisions, whether they were about which venue to play or which songs to use. The two sang alternatively on stage, and each had his own style,” Cynthia wrote in her book entitled “John.”
Simon clearly remembers his interaction with Lennon and McCartney as well, highlighting how their rivalry consumed them, saying, “Simply wanting to make the best music can make you competitive.”
“You have no idea how competitive John Lennon was around Paul McCartney. When I first met them, I felt like someone had taken all the oxygen out of the room. I almost couldn’t breathe, they were so competitive, and that’s what made them so great. They wouldn’t settle for just good. That was me, too.”
Lennon and McCartney’s rivalry continued even after The Beatles broke up, if anything, it worsened. The two were always trying to outperform one another in their own endeavors. Lennon’s drive frequently stumbled, but hearing a brand-new McCartney song would rekindle his inspiration and inspire him to go back to the studio.
McCartney recounted a revealing anecdote, narrated by a former collaborator of Lennon’s, which shed light on the extent of their rivalry, sharing it during an interview with Billboard in 2001.
“You know, I heard a story recently from a guy who used to record with John [Lennon] in New York, and he said that John would get lazy — but then he’d hear a song of mine where he thought, ‘Oh, s***, Paul’s putting it in, Paul’s working!’”
“Apparently [Coming Up] was one song that got John recording again. I think John just thought, ‘Uh oh, I better get working, too’ [beams]. I thought that was a nice story,” he added.