Sir Paul McCartney ‘slagged off’ for forming Wings

Sir Paul McCartney admits he was "slagged off" when Wings first formed.

The 70-year-old rocker and his band struggled to be taken seriously when they first formed in 1971 just a year after Paul quit The Beatles and provoked a backlash from fans and critics.

But Paul – who was joined in the group by ex-Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, drummer Joe English and his late wife Linda McCartney, who was originally a photographer before Paul taught her how to play keyboard – persevered and turned them into a great group.

Speaking at a VIP screening of new DVD ‘Rockshow’ at London’s Bafta yesterday (15.05.13), Paul said: "We were getting slagged off because I tried to build Wings from the ground up and start again.

"But by 1976, we were ready to put on a pretty good show to take around the world."

‘Rockshow’ captures the group’s 1976 concert at gigantic venue Kingdome in Seattle during their epic ‘Wings Over The World Tour’.

The footage was originally premiered in 1980 and has now been re-mastered and fully restored for audiences.

Paul previously spoke about how much "s**t" his late wife – who passed away from cancer in 1998 – endured during her time in the band for being an inexperienced musician.

He explained: "The memory overall of the 70s was that it was very difficult, but the fact it worked was really rewarding.

"So it’s great to see Linda up there, rocking, looking great. Because you sort of think, ‘God, the s**t she endured, bless her. And here we are on stage, and it all worked out.’ "