It was announced 39 years ago (April 27th, 1981), that Paul McCartney's solo band Wings had disbanded. McCartney and his first wife Linda had formed the group in the summer of 1971 with drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist and Moody Blues co-founder Denny Laine. The McCartney's and Laine remained the nucleus of the band's ever-changing line up throughout their decade-long run. At the time of Wings' split the band included Wings' third lead guitarist Laurence Juber and fourth drummer Steve Holley.
McCartney first broke the band in by playing small, unannounced university gigs throughout Britain in early 1972. Gradually, he began booking the group into theaters and arenas across Europe, Australia, and America as the group started racking up Top Ten hits such as “Hi, Hi, Hi,” “Live And Let Die,” “Helen Wheels,” “Jet,” “Junior's Farm,” “Let 'Em In,” and “Goodnight Tonight,” along with the Number Ones “My Love,” “Band On The Run,” “Listen To What The Man Said,” “Silly Love Songs,” “With A Little Luck,” and “Coming Up.”
In 2001 McCartney released his Wingspan documentary chronicling the group's career. He admitted at the time that he was horrified by at the public and critical beating Linda took after marrying and co-founding Wings with him: “She took some s*** — major league. Not only from the critics, (but) from the fans. I mean, we had stuff daubed on our front wall in large letters, and it was highly offensive, y'know? So she had to put up with that. Luckily, she was a very strong woman, and was able to overcome it and the period passed, and as she went on, people started to appreciate more and more.”