McCartney to embark on solo Britain tour

LONDON - Beatle legend Sir Paul McCartney is set to embark on a solo British stadium tour.

McCartney has announced details of five shows to take place this summer around the time of his 68th birthday in June including headline appearances at noted festivals like the Isle of Wight and Hard Rock Calling, reports contactmusic.com.

“It is really amazing for a man of his age to embark on such a gruelling, massive tour. Put simply, these will be his biggest ever shows in Britain. So really, it just shows what great shape he is in,” said an industry source.

The singer hasn’t fully toured Britain since 2003, when he performed in a string of arenas. Since then, he has only performed sporadic shows, such as a December 2009 date at London’s O2 Arena.

The new dates on his ‘Up and Coming’ tour will see him play in Dublin, Glasgow and Cardiff, while it is also rumoured that he will announce a date at London’s Wembley Stadium in the coming weeks.

“It’s always brilliant to play for the home crowd and these dates are the ones that me and the band are really excited about,” said McCartney.

The musician is also thrilled to have been given the final headline slot at the Isle of Wight festival as he has never played at the event before.

“I always remember hearing such great things about this festival and it has such a sense of history with the likes of Jimi Hendrix playing there the first time round,” he said.

“This will be my first show on the Isle of Wight and I’m looking forward to a rollicking night of rock ‘n’ roll,” he added.

Festival promoter John Giddings who has also booked Jay-Z and The Strokes to headline the event, is equally delighted to have Macca, as McCartney is fondly called, join the bill.

“Forty years after Jimi Hendrix performed ‘Hey Joe’ at Seaclose Park we’ve finally gotten to ‘Hey Jude’. I can’t wait,” said Giddings.