The legendary Beatle has paid tribute to the late David Hockney
Sir Paul McCartney has paid a heartfelt tribute to his close friend and legendary painter, David Hockney(Image: Getty Images)
Sir Paul McCartney has paid an emotional tribute to the late David Hockney. The legendary painter, known for works including: The Splash; and Mr And Mrs Clark And Percy; died peacefully at home on June 11 aged 88.
Tributes have poured in to honour the legendary artist since his sad death. Sir Paul is the latest to share some heartfelt words as he took to Instagram to pay tribute. The 83-year-old shared a photo of the two together on his Instagram profile as he said: “David Hockney was a friend and an incredible painter. I knew him during the 1960s and kept a friendship going till he died on Thursday, the 11th of June.
“He was very clever witty and fun to be with. His paintings often gave off a feeling of great joy.” He added: “His paintings often gave off a feeling of great joy. Nancy and I enjoyed visiting his studios in California where we took a drive along Mulholland Drive which he made famous all over again in his sensational paintings.
“Or in his London studio. The rooms were filled with paintings. Often some of the most recent pictures that he had done. He would talk about them and his very particular views on art. He felt that it was important to see correctly.
“He wasn’t a great fan of perspective and was always involved in inventing new ways to view the world. His many paintings, drawings, films and other media like iPad drawing he took readily to and mastered.”He was a serious Chain Smoker and believed it was everyone’s right to smoke like the days when he and I had been brought up in smoke filled rooms. We visited him once in Bridlington, Yorkshire. He met us at the train station and drove us to his house in a smoke filled car.”We will miss his fabulous personality, his laconic wit and his erudite views on how to look at the world. Rest in peace, David. We love you. Paul.”
People took to the comments to share messages of support to Sir Paul after the sad news. Emma said: “Sorry for your loss.” Claudette said: “Rest in Peace.
Sir Paul McCartney has paid tribute to David Hockney(Image: Getty Images)
It’s been a busy period for Sir Paul over recent weeks since the release of his latest album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. The new album is an ode to his youth In Liverpool and debuted at Number One on the UK Albums Chart after it was released on May 29.
The new album is a rare insight into Sir Paul’s early years before he conquered the world with the Fab Four. Dungeon Lane is a road in Speke near Sir Paul’s first childhood home on Ardwick Road, before the family moved to Forthlin Road in Allerton.
In quotes given to the ECHO earlier this month, Sir Paul said he still takes his family to Dungeon Lane whenever he is showing them around sites in the city. He said: “I’d been there not that long ago. Sometimes when I go up to Liverpool and I’ve got the kids with me, I’ll do the tour. I’ll drive them around. That’s where we did our first gig.
“And that’s where we used to live there. And that’s where we caught the bus to school. So going down Dungeon Lane, I would say ‘And this is Dungeon Lane’.”
The L24 road looks a lot different now to how it did in the days of Sir Paul’s youth, when it was the main access point to Oglet Shore. The changing face of the road makes it an ideal reference point for Sir Paul’s 18th solo album, as he wistfully reminisces on a bygone era.
He added: “It’s called The Boys of Dungeon Lane and about half the album is about memories and things I remember and the other half is about other stuff, not all about one thing but a selection of songs I’ve written over the last few years.”
The genesis of the album came from a jamming session with producer Andrew Watt six years ago over a cup of tea in Los Angeles. Sir Paul’s creative juices were ignited when he stumbled upon a chord he had never heard before, as he added: “To this day, I actually don’t know what that chord is.
“I’m waiting for someone to tell me, to explain it to me. Random chord, and then I changed one note in the chord and it made a more normal chord. Changed one more, so I had a three chord sequence that we’re messing with.”
This improvised session in Watt’s former studio, located in Charlie Chaplin’s old house, developed into the first single from the album, titled Days We Left Behind. The deeply evocative riff was the perfect framework for Sir Paul to reflect on his youth in post World War II Liverpool, now that he is in the opposite period of his life.
He said: “The second verse starts ‘See the boys of Dungeon Lane along the Mersey Shore’, and Dungeon Lane was a place that led down from where we lived, which was on a housing estate. You say housing estate to Americans they tend to think you’re talking about Downton Abbey. Well, it’s about the opposite, it’s just loads of council houses.
“And then on the edge of it was this road that went down to the beach, the shore, and I used to go down there quite a lot. Took my little bird book – I was really into bird watching. So yeah, I put all of those memories in the song.”
As you’d expect from an album named after a road in Speke, Dungeon Lane isn’t the only reference to his youth in Liverpool. The lyrics are chocked full of nods to the city, including Sir Paul’s childhood home on Forthlin Road, early songwriting sessions with John Lennon and a hitchhiking trip to Wales with George Harrison
The album also represents a piece of music history, as it contains Sir Paul’s first ever duet with Sir Ringo Starr. The song is named ‘Home To Us’, as the two surviving members of The Beatles powerfully pay tribute to their upbringing – and how it prepared them to conquer the world with the Fab Four.
The message of the track was key to getting Ringo involved as Sir Paul said: “I knew he would identify with the lyrics cause you know the idea of where we grew up was rough – but it was home to us.
“He knew I felt like that, I knew he felt like that. So I thought we could come together on that idea. And we did.”