Sir Paul McCartney’s younger brother Mike shares rare photo of their late mother in touching tribute on anniversary of her death

Sir Paul McCartney’s younger brother Mike shared a moving tribute to their mother on Tuesday on the anniversary of her death.

Macca’s younger brother, now 79, was just 12 when their mother Mary died of an embolism as a complication of breast cancer surgery. Paul, now 81, was only 14.

The loss of his mother when he was in his early teens haunted Paul throughout his life and was the inspiration behind The Beatles’ hit ‘Let It Be’ – particularly in the lyrics ‘Mother Mary comes to me’.

To mark the 67th anniversary of her death, Mike posted a rare photo of Mary on Twitter, showing her staring into the camera for a seated portrait.

He wrote a simple but sweet tribute, writing: ‘Mommy flew to heaven today ❤️.’

“We were the original Fab Four, mum, dad, Paul and me,” Mike told the Daily Mail in 2014.

‘When she died, I blamed everyone, including God, until I slowly found out why she died. I think the reason for us was to learn from her death and cherish every second of life.

“Dad bought me a banjo and Paul a Spanish guitar after she died. He played the piano, which gave him a way to escape the poverty of his youth. So we started playing.

‘If mom had not died, there would have been no musical existence for me and my brother. She had wanted us to go into the profession. I think it was fate or luck. Mom’s death is not what you want, but Paul and I had an affinity with that.

‘We had an affinity with John, who also lost his mother. Only people to whom death has been forced in this way understand it. It’s the things you don’t say.’

Paul and Mike were already close, but became increasingly so after the death of their mother – something over which Paul also bonded with fellow Beatle John Lennon.

When asked in 2013 what he would do if he had a time machine, Sir Paul replied: ‘Go back and spend time with my mother.’

Sir Paul’s mother, Mary, was a midwife. She died at the age of 47 from an embolism, after surgery to treat breast cancer. Sir Paul, her eldest son, was only 14 years old at the time.

The Beatle has previously described how his mother inspired the song Let It Be, which he wrote after she appeared to him in a dream.

He said Mary contributed “well over half” of the family income. The McCartneys were too poor to have a car, but they “just about had a television.”

He added: ‘When she came home in the evening she would cook, so we didn’t have much time together. But she was just a very comforting presence in my life.

“And when she died, one of the problems I had over the years was that I couldn’t remember her face that easily. That’s how it is for everyone, I think.

“Every day you can’t remember their faces, you have to use those kinds of photos and memories.”

About the dream he said: ‘My mother appeared, and there her face was perfectly clear, especially her eyes, and she said to me very softly and very reassuringly, “Let it be so.”

‘It was pleasant. I woke up feeling great. It really was as if she had visited me at this very difficult point in my life and given me this message: be gentle, don’t fight things, just try to go with the flow and it will all work out.

‘So as a musician, I went straight to the piano and started writing a song: “When I’m in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me… and speak words of wisdom, let it be.”‘

He added that he got together with Linda, his first wife, shortly afterwards, saying “it was as if my mother had sent her.”

Sir Paul continued: ‘So those words are really special to me, because not only did my mother come to me in a dream and reassure me at a very difficult time in my life – and indeed, things got better after that. that – but by putting them in a song and recording it with the Beatles, it became a comforting, healing statement for other people too.”

Let It Be was released as a single in 1970 and became one of The Beatles’ most beloved hits.

The album of the same name was released in May of that year, shortly after the band announced its split.

Mike was the original drummer for The Beatles when the band first formed in 1957, after Paul first met John Lennon.

But the dream was dashed when he broke his arm in an accident with the Scouts. Pete Best and later Ringo Starr drummed for the group at their peak.

Mike has also dabbled in show business in his time and was in a satirical sketch group called The Scaffold before becoming a photographer.

He changed his name to McGear during the height of Beatlemania to try to break away from his brother and make a name for himself on his own.

“The Beatles became so famous that it was like being Presley or Sinatra to be called McCartney,” he says. ‘If I had stayed McCartney it would have looked like I was making money. I couldn’t do that.’

After retiring from the music business in the 1980s, Mike decided to revert to his family name and once again became known as Mike McCartney.

Mike shares three daughters with his first wife, Angela Fishwick, named Brenna, Theran and Abigail Faith.

He has been happily married to his wife Rowena since 1982 and shares three boys: Josh, Max and Sonny.