We would talk on the phone every few months but we went a long time without seeing each other. His relationship with his father suffered and James admits: “I went a long time without seeing Dad. James went into rehab in Arizona but left shortly afterwards. “At the time I severed that tie with the rest of the family a little bit which I wish I hadn’t done now “ But it got to the point when they were just: ‘effin let James do his own thing.’ “All the family were concerned for me, they were worried. It wasn’t a problem, I think it was just once, it wasn’t that bad. “It’s not that big a deal… but it is at the same time. I wasn’t doing heroin but it’s practically like heroin. “I started getting more into Class A drugs, ketamine. It was difficult because of Mum’s death and then moving on, having a new mother. He said: “The estrangement was partly because of Heather. Now, sitting in his Nashville hotel, where he is performing two nights at the legendary Bluebird Cafe, James is matter of fact about his lost years. James was living in Brighton, waiting on tables, and while his sister Stella was forging an international career in fashion, he descended even further into a life of drugs. I had to strike out on my own and I needed a bit of time to grieve my mum’s death.”
“We drifted quite far apart, it was a difficult period. “I was also pretty sceptical even of Dad being so commercial, but now I really embrace that, it’s amazing what he does, it’s really rock and roll. It was very difficult, I had my own issues. “I don’t have a problem with Heather now because she is Beatrice’s mum but at the time it was difficult for me, I was so into Kurt Cobain and this mentality so I didn’t really like her. Dad was married to Heather and we didn’t get on. They soon began a relationship, later marrying, and it caused such a rift that James and Paul barely spoke for years. James’ increasing isolation worsened when his father met Heather in 1999. He smoked his first marijuana joint at 16 but after his mother’s death he admits: “I was getting high, mainly on cannabis.” “I was finding myself and I was drinking and doing a little bit of drugs.” “I got heavily into Nirvana, a bit of Marilyn Manson, these heavy bands.
I kinda had my slightly dark period,” he says. “When I was 20 my mother died and I went off the rails a little bit.
James admits his life was turned upside down when his mother Linda died of breast cancer in 1998 at the family’s ranch in Arizona. His father and the step-mother, one-time model Heather Mills, are divorced, and he has reconciled with his dad and he has found the confidence to finally perform the songs he has been writing since he was 17. When he turned to Class A drugs - with terrifying horse tranquiliser ketamine - even his sisters cut ties with him. In his 20s, the son of Beatles legend Paul McCartney shunned his father, hated his new step-mother and descended into a dark world of drink and drugs. It has taken 35 years for James McCartney to step out from his father’s shadow.
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