From stories dating back to his early teen years to the heyday of The Beatles, the 76-year-old musician left nothing on the cutting room floor in his discussion with GQ's Chris Heath, including a good old group masturbation story that involved Lennon and pals.
When it came to dishing on the band's early days, McCartney recalled an incident where the group bonded in a way that didn't exactly involve a getting-to-know-you conversation over a pint. This particular moment took place after Stuart Sutcliffe, the fifth Beatle, parted ways with the group, which led to McCartney playing the bass.
"What it was was over at John's house, and it was just a group of us," McCartney told Heath. "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."
Heath later offered more insight into the somewhat shocking incident, noting that along with Lennon and McCartney, three other friends were involved and that each person present shouted out names "that would offer relevant inspiration."
"We were just, ‘Brigitte Bardot!' ‘Whoo!' And then everyone would thrash a bit more," McCartney added, before recalling a moment when Lennon, the jokester of the group, opted to ruin the stimulating encounter by yelling out the name of former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
When asked whether the group reconvened for another session, McCartney wasn't entirely sure. "I think it was a one-off. Or maybe it was like a two-off. 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," McCartney said.
Though the singer-songwriter did admit that in hindsight, the act was "quite raunchy," he stressed that the experience was "good harmless fun."
"It didn't hurt anyone, not even Brigitte Bardot."
Other sexual revelations made during the interview involved McCartney talking about whether the group dipped their toes into the thriving sexual revolution of the 1960s.
Though he admitted that he couldn't recall whether the group joined in orgies while on tour, McCartney did say that "there were sexual encounters of the celestial kind."
"There was once when we were in Vegas where the tour guy, a fixer, said, ‘You're going to Vegas, guys — you want a hooker?' We were all, ‘Yeah!' And I requested two. And I had them, and it was a wonderful experience. But that's the closest I ever came to an orgy," McCartney told Heath. "See, the thing is, in the next room I think the guys might have ordered something else off the menu. So that would figure if John was saying, yeah, it was all bacchanalian."
"I think John was a little more that way, because thinking back, I remember there was someone in a club that he'd met, and they'd gone back to the house because the wife fancied John, wanted to have sex with him; so that happened, and John discovered the husband was watching. That was called ‘kinky' in those days," he continued.
One of the more laughable moments of the interview came when the decorated musician recalled working with Kanye West for the song "Four Five Seconds." Though content with how the finished product came out, McCartney revealed that he had no clue what the phrase "wildin'" meant.
"But my stepson knew," he admitted. "He's up with the hip-hop talk: 'Wilding? Oh yeah, that's like getting crazy and stuff.'"
McCartney also dished on an acid trip on which he said he saw his own DNA and how Lennon tried to convince him to try trepanning, a (medieval) process in which a hole is drilled into one's head in order to alleviate pressure.