'It's hard not to cry when I sing, but I'll NEVER retire' Paul McCartney opens up

"You see so many people who retire and then immediately expire," says McCartney. Despite achieving more than any man (or any star) could ever dream of, the 73-year old has no intention of ever stopping. "Sit at home and watch telly? That’s what people do, man. Gardening, golf… no thanks," he declares. "My manager, who I don’t have any more, glad to say, suggested quite a long time ago that I retire at 50. He sort of said it’s not a good look. I went, 'Oh, God, he could be right.' "But then I still enjoy writing, I still enjoy singing. What am I gonna do?"

The living legend is about to play at Roskilde tomorrow, followed by dates in Norway and Sweden on the Out There tour, and then on to Lollapalooza at the end of July. He also hit the charts recently with two of the world's hottest younger stars, Rihanna and Kanye West, even if he ruffled some feathers by comparing Kanye to John Lennon. It seems unbelievable that a man who has is still touring, who has sold over 600 million records with The Beatles alone, plus his solo releases, could possibly feel that he hasn't done enough. Yet, he does.

"It is a silly feeling,' he admits. "And I do actually sometimes talk to myself and say, 'Wait a minute: look at this little mountain of achievements. There’s an awful lot of them. Isn’t that enough?' "But maybe I could do it a bit better. Maybe I could write something that’s just more relevant or new. And that always drags you forward. "I mean, I never really felt like, 'Oh, I did good.' Nobody does. Even at the height of The Beatles." McCartney concedes that the extraordinary achievements of The Beatles, musically and culturally will never be matched, not even by the modern likes of One Direction. Even if he refers to himself in the third person while doing so...