Paul McCartney and Heather Mills officially announce separation
05/18/2006 - fametastic
They have issued a joint statement on the decision: “Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways.” “Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much but have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives, and we have actively tried to protect the privacy of our child.” “Separation for any couple is difficult enough, but to have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter, is immensely stressful.” “We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period.” The couple didn’t sign a prenuptial agreement as Paul didn’t think it was necessary and sources have estimated that Heather could receive around £200million of Paul’s estimated £865million fortune. In a separate statement on Paul’s website, he notes that the money is not an issue: “It’s been suggested that [Heather] married me for the money and there is not an ounce of truth in this.” “I’m very sad to see that some insensitive people would choose a moment like this to spread these vicious rumours.”

Beatles' Apple loses to Job's Apple
05/10/2006 - taipeitimes
Apple Corps, which contended that the US company had broken a 1991 agreement in which each agreed not to enter into the other's field of business, said it would appeal. Judge Edward Mann ruled that Apple Computer used the fruit logo in association with the store, not the music, and thus did not breach the agreement. 'I conclude that the use of the apple logo ... does not suggest a relevant connection with the creative work,' Mann said in his written judgment. 'I think that the use of the apple logo is a fair and reasonable use of the mark in connection with the service, which does not go further and unfairly or unreasonably suggest an additional association with the creative works themselves.' Neil Aspinall, manager of Apple Corps, said the ruling would be appealed. 'We felt that during the course of the trial we clearly demonstrated just how extensively Apple Computer has broken the agreement,' Aspinall said in a statement. Mann refused Apple Computer's application for an immediate interim payment of ?1.5 million (US$2.8 million) from Apple Corps toward its legal costs, pending further hearings. Apple Corps faces a similar bill for its own legal expenses. Lawyers for US-based Apple Computer had argued that it was conducting its business legally and that music lovers are smart enough to tell the difference between the logos. Apple Corps uses a shiny green apple as its logo, while Apple Computer has a cartoon-like apple with a neat bite taken out. Lawyers for each side tussled during the hearing over advertisements for iTunes featuring musical acts U2, Eminem and Coldplay, using the logo. The judge confessed early on that he owned an iPod. The 1991 agreement ended previous lengthy litigation over the logo. Apple Computer told the court that it paid the Fab Four's company US$26.5 million as part of the 1991 out-of-court settlement, and in return had received 'a considerably expanded field of use.' The terms of the deal were kept confidential at the time. Apple Corps was started by the Beatles in 1968 and is still owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the widow of John Lennon and the estate of George Harrison. California-based Apple Computer was formed in 1976, when college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak filed partnership papers on April Fools' Day. Their ubiquitous iPods first came out in October 2001 and the iTunes music store opened for business in the US in April 2003; it is now available across Europe, in Australia, Japan and Canada.

McCartney couple's charity destiny
01/29/2006 - digitalspy
The anti-landmine and animal rights campaigner said when she first met the former Beatle she hated being in the celebrity spotlight. She confessed: 'It was like, I love this man but I want out of this life completely.' She soon realised, however, that Paul's star-status gave her new campaigning opportunities. 'But then doors started opening. President Vladimir Putin wanted to have a meeting about landmines. President Putin!' explained Heather. 'And I knew suddenly that was the reason Paul and I had met. 'Obviously we were in love and there was our daughter and everything, but I knew that was the reason. Paul can open these doors, but he won't have time to do the work. He needs me because I do the work.'

McCartney fame school goes global
01/28/2006 - iol
Talks are underway to set up centres in Europe, the Far East and North and South America, according to the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts principal Mark Featherstone-Witty. He says: 'People have approached us in Barcelona, Japan, Texas and Colombia to assist us in the creation of new Performing Arts Institutes. 'These ideas are in the process of being created and are therefore on-going. However, this encourages us to be pro-active over the next ten years. Rather than passively wait for people to approach us, we will find partners and do it ourselves.' McCartney co-founded LIPA in 1996 to help local kids get a break in showbusiness, but he has little involvement in the day-to-day running of the school and played no part in talks to make it international. Featherstone-Witty adds: 'We hope that a mark of our maturity is that actions ascribed to Paul will cease. We are acting independently of him,' The former Beatle will be present when LIPA celebrates its 10th anniversary on Monday.

McCARTNEY REFUSES OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT BRIT
01/16/2006 - contactmusic
The former BEATLES icon, 64, fears the award would make him appear a has-been, when he plans to carry on making music for years to come. A Brits insider says, 'We were absolutely stunned. 'Sir Paul felt that if he accepted the gong, people would assume it was the end of his career when he is feeling more creative than ever.'

McCARTNEY: 'BAMBI MADE ME FIGHT FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS'
12/12/2005 - contactmusic
The former BEATLE, who is a strict vegetarian and supporter of pressure group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), realised cruelty inflicted on animals was wrong when he saw the way humans behaved in the Disney cartoons. He says, 'If you think of Bambi, it's mum gets killed by a hunter and I think that made me grow up thinking hunting isn't cool. 'You look through a lot of these great stories: Dumbo - his mum is quite badly treated. 'Kids, as I once was, have grown up feeling it's a bad idea to be cruel to animals.'

McCartney 'proud' to have known Lennon
12/10/2005 - iol
McCartney was devastated when he discovered his longterm songwriting partner had been murdered outside his New York City apartment by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980 - but now chooses to focus on the good times they shared together. The 63-year-old tells BBC Radio 2: 'The first thing that goes through your mind is the horrific conditions of his death. That's what always hits me. And you think: 'Gosh, my mate, that's what happened to him.' 'But then, rather than dwell on that, I immediately go to the fantastic times we had and how lucky and privileged I feel to be one of the people who spent the most time with him during his life having met him as a teenager. 'People start these rumours: 'He was this, he was that.' I say, 'Look, I've slept with him.' We've done hitch-hiking holidays and we've had to top and tail it because there was only one bed. I say: 'I knew him'. 'The bottom line, I think what everybody already knows, he was a fantastic man, really fantastic guy. 'Just as a man, as an activist, he is one of the great men of the 20th century. I'm just very proud to have known him so intimately from when we were kids to virtually the end all the way through.'

Sir Paul's music on a space odyssey
11/11/2005 - sify
Sir Paul made the decision to beam the Beatles song 'Good Day Sunshine', during his concert in Anaheim, California, to the crew at the International Space Station, when he learnt that NASA had used the song to tell the crew of the space shuttle Discovery that a safe landing was possible due to favourable weather conditions. The singer said that he NASA had done the Beatles a favour by playing their song and it was time that the favour was returned. 'In our concert we hope to repay the favour,' Sir Paul was quoted by ratethemusic as saying.

Imagine a Digital Lennon
11/11/2005 - nowplayingmag
Variety reports that several sources will offer Lennon’s tunes beginning December 5 in Britain and December 6 in the U.S., though what the difference is between national borders when you’re on the Web isn’t entirely clear. The latest Lennon greatest hits album Working Class Hero became available for download this past Tuesday. The much-revered iTunes service will not offer the Lennon tracks, however, because of an ongoing legal battle between iTunes company Apple Computer and Beatles company Apple Corps. (Yep, remember the apple on some of your old Beatles LPs?) “New technology is something he always embraced, and this is something he would have loved,” said Yoko Ono, Lennon’s widow, in a statement, while continuing to pretend that she’s not hated by the entire world.

Lennon’s famous white suit auctioned off
10/31/2005 - iol
The suit was auctioned off for $118,000 (€97,000) n Las Vegas and a portion of the proceeds will go to Amnesty International. An Austin Princess hearse driven by Lennon in the 1973 documentary “Imagine” was also auctioned for $150,000 (€124,000). The car bears a personal licence plate that reads “Imagine”. The suits worn by The Beatles on the iconic cover of Abbey Road have played host to a number of theories and speculation over the years, but it turned out the Fab Four just posed in what they had been wearing on the day.