Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson: The Friendship, the Fallout, and the Beatles Catalog That Came Between Them
It started with a friendship — one rooted in admiration, mutual respect, and chart-topping hits. But what unfolded between Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson would become one of the most unexpected and quietly heartbreaking rifts in music history. At the center of it all? The Beatles catalog — a collection of songs that defined a generation, and a business deal that forever altered their bond.
From Hitmakers to Close Friends
In the early 1980s, McCartney and Jackson were more than just musical legends — they were collaborators and genuine companions. Their chemistry lit up the charts with hits like “Say Say Say” and “The Girl Is Mine.” Offstage, they shared inside jokes, meals, and deep conversations about music, creativity, and even business.
During one such conversation, McCartney gave Jackson a candid tip: invest in music publishing. He spoke from experience — Paul had spent years trying to regain the rights to The Beatles’ songs after losing them in a tangle of business deals decades earlier.
It was friendly advice. It was honest. And it would come back to haunt him.
The Deal That Changed Everything
In 1985, Michael Jackson stunned the world — and Paul McCartney — by purchasing ATV Music, the company that owned the publishing rights to over 250 Beatles songs. Jackson had outbid McCartney himself, along with several other interested buyers.
Overnight, the crown jewels of rock music — “Let It Be,” “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude” — belonged to Jackson.
Paul was blindsided. “When I heard he bought it, I thought, ‘What? He’s supposed to be my friend,’” he later said. “I showed him how to do it, and he did it — to me.”
What had started as a warm, artistic friendship had now turned into something far colder — a business conflict that neither of them truly anticipated.
A Quiet Rift, Not a War
This wasn’t a feud marked by public spats or angry interviews. McCartney wasn’t furious — he was wounded. It wasn’t about the money. It was about something deeper: ownership, legacy, and trust.
For Paul, these were the songs he wrote with John Lennon — pieces of his soul, his youth, his history. To see them in the hands of someone else, especially a friend, stung in a way no royalty check ever could.
The friendship quietly faded. They stopped collaborating. They stopped talking. And the silence between them grew louder than any headline.
After the Silence
Following Jackson’s death in 2009, McCartney spoke with compassion and grace. “We drifted apart after the business deal, but I’ll always remember the fun times we had,” he said. “He was a massively talented boy.”
There was no bitterness in his words — just a wistful sadness for what once was.
Over the years, Paul began reclaiming rights to his share of the Beatles catalog through U.S. copyright law, which allows artists to regain ownership of their work after a set number of years. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t flashy. But it was a victory — a quiet resolution to a long and painful chapter.
More Than a Catalog
What happened between McCartney and Jackson wasn’t just about contracts and catalogs. It was a deeply human story — a reminder that even the strongest bonds can fray under the weight of success, ambition, and fortune.
And yet, what endures isn’t the fallout — it’s the music.
Together and separately, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson changed the world with their songs. They left us with melodies that transcend conflict and stories that live far beyond the legal documents that divided them.
“I wish things had gone differently,” McCartney once reflected. “But that’s life. You learn.”
And so we do.
