Who Is Paul McCartney?

Paul McCartney, architect of the last half-century of pop music, performed at The Grammys award ceremony Sunday night, prompting many young people to ask: who the hell is that?

Sir Paul, along with an all-star lineup that included Dave Grohl, who some people might recognize, played a Beatles medley from the end of "Abbey Road," prompting a flurry of tweets such as these from Mikaela: "Who tf is Paul Mccartney. Idgaf.  Who he is he hella old too."

Here's a primer for the unitiated: Paul McCartney is a musician and songwriter.  He was young once, and pretty, and did drugs.  He and three other friends were in a band called The Beatles.  They changed the world, and lost control over their publishing rights.

Here's a clip of The Beatles changing the world, probably while on drugs.  It's from 1967, during the first live satellite broadcast:

Two members of The Beatles, George Harrison and John Lennon, are dead now.  George was almost killed by a crazed fan, and John was.  So perhaps Paul's (very relative) obscurity has allowed him to become old.  As I've heard suggested, he might be a candidate for the "Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians" blog (see below), but a lot of us are probably heading in that direction, if we're lucky.

Personally, I'm glad that Paul McCartney is old.  I'm glad he's still making music.  He hasn't charted in a while, which might explain some of these grammatically-challenged tweets.  I also haven't followed his career closely in the last couple decades, but it doesn't matter.  He could sing the phone book onstage because, frankly, he's earned it.  He's entitled.

I guess the bottom line is that popular culture is purposefully amnesiac.  If even Paul McCartney is unrecognizable, can that mean a space has been cleared in the public concsciouness for someone of possibly greater talent and ability?  Stay tuned to subsequent Grammy Award broadcasts for further updates on cultural relevance.