I Can See the World Tonight: An Inside Look at Paul McCartney's Fan Base

There exists a group of people who cringe when the phrase "former Beatle Paul McCartney" appears in print. To these fans, Paul McCartney will always be more than the bassist of The Beatles. Aside from his musical ventures with Wings and into the classical genre, McCartney's role extends to father, husband, friend, boss, and champion of animal rights.

Paul McCartney's fans are in general a caring group. They raise money for charitable causes on their own in McCartney's name, display their Paul pride with tee shirts, pins, and ribbons. Beyond that, the fans support McCartney, or 'Macca' as he is known to them, through everything.

Currently, McCartney is going through a very public divorce with Heather Mills. Though many McCartney fans were dubious about the marriage from the beginning, most supported him anyway.

A prominent fan known as JaneP, also a private McCartney list moderator and webmaster of JaneP's Paul Page, says it best. Each link to her McCartney photo pages say "More More Paul Paul!" Like Jane, many fans feel as though Paul brings a smile to their face each day.

Many of McCartney's fans have followed his career from the beginning and rightly consider themselves to be the very foundation of his fan base. It took decades for fans to begin to deconstruct the stereotype: women crying and clawing at a fence in hysterics after the "cute Beatle" married Linda Eastman.

McCartney's fan base is now very diverse. Aside from the original fans from Europe, North America, and Australia, McCartney's popularity reaches South America, Africa, Russia, and Asia. This is due to McCartney's outreach as a performer and a humanitarian--his image and history show that when fans want him to perform in a location, he'll be there, even if that means setting up in Red Square, Moscow.

The variety within McCartney' base displays more than just differences in nationality. Many children of original McCartney fans also like McCartney's music, creating something for families to discuss at the dinner table. Young women adore him as a former sex symbol, musical talent, or as a father figure. Young men may aspire to be like him.