Paul McCartney has opened up about his early experiences with a popular young male bonding ritual – group masturbation.
In a candid interview with GQ, the ex-Beatle confessed he, John Lennon and some friends did it.
“What it was, was over at John's house, and it was just a group of us,” McCartney recalled. “And instead of just getting roaring drunk and partying—I don't even know if we were staying over or anything—we were all just in these chairs, and the lights were out, and somebody started masturbating, so we all did.”
McCartney said each of them shouted out names to help things along.
“We were just, 'Brigitte Bardot!' ‘Whoo!' and then everyone would thrash a bit more,” he recalled. “I think it was John sort of said, 'Winston Churchill!’”
McCartney said it happened once, maybe twice.
“It wasn't a big thing. But, you know, it was just the kind of thing you didn't think much of. It was just a group,” he said. “Yeah, it's quite raunchy when you think about it. There's so many things like that from when you're a kid that you look back on and you're, 'Did we do that?' But it was good harmless fun. It didn't hurt anyone. Not even Brigitte Bardot.”
McCartney said experiences like this helped The Beatles as a band.
“It made us a very tight band, but as friends it made us able to read each other,” he said. "When we were super close…examples being, like, going down the motorway and the van had no [heat] and it was bitter, in the middle of winter, and we lay on top of each other, literally. It was the only way we could stay warm.
“We suffered for a while, just shivering, and then someone said: ‘Well, why don't we…?’ So we did a Beatles sandwich … It warmed us. It was a good idea.”