Chronology

An overview of the life and career of Linda McCartney

Linda Louise Eastman is born on 24th September 1941, Scarsdale, New York

Graduates from Scarsdale High School, New York

Enrols at Sarah Lawrence College and then later the University of Arizona to major in Art History.

Daughter Heather is born

Moves to New York and is employed by 'Town & Country' magazine as their Editorial Assistant

Shortly after moving to New York Linda photographs her first band The Dave Clark Five.

Shoots The Rolling Stones for 'Town & Country' magazine on the Hudson River in New York

This is Linda’s first major photo shoot for a publication.

Voted US Female Photographer of the Year

Photographs Jimi Hendrix at Rheingold Festival, Central Park.

Travels to London and photographs The Beatles at the album press launch of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Travels to San Francisco to shoot Big Brother and the Holding Company for Mademoiselle magazine. The first of many occasions Linda will photograph Janis Joplin.

Photographs Neil Young. The picture is later used as cover art for Young’s Sugar Mountain: Live At Canterbury House 1968.

Linda becomes the first female photographer to have her work featured on the cover of 'Rolling Stone' with her photo of Eric Clapton

Linda is hired as the house photographer for the Fillmore East. Big Brother, Albert King and Tim Buckley all play the opening concert.

During her time at the Fillmore East Linda also photographs The Who, The Doors and The Animals, among many others.

Photographs The Beatles during the White Album recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios, London.

Linda is commissioned by Life magazine to take a colour photograph of Jim Morrison for their cover. Martin Luther King is killed two weeks later, and so Linda’s photograph of Jim never made the front page.

Moves to London.

Eric Clapton. London, 1968. Used as the cover photo for the 11.05.68 issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

Linda marries Paul McCartney in London on 12th March

Daughter Mary is born.

Linda photographs The Beatles during recording sessions for their album Abbey Road and takes behind-the-scenes photographs at their cover shoot.

Photographs cover of The Beatles single ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ / ‘Old Brown Shoe’.

Linda is photographed by Penati for the May issue of American Vogue.

Appears in the music video for ‘Something’ by The Beatles.

Moves to Scotland.

Linda and Paul appear on cover of Life magazine alongside daughters Heather and Mary McCartney.

Linda’s photographs are used in the McCartney album artwork. Her vocals feature on the album and Paul dedicates his song ‘The Lovely Linda’ to her.

Paul, Linda and Heather outside Marylebone Register Office, 1969

Linda photographs Paul for the cover of 'Rolling Stone' magazine

Linda turns her photographic attention to the Scottish landscape and her family.

Linda and Paul appear for a second time on the cover of ‘Life’ magazine

Daughter Stella is born.

RAM – Linda’s first studio album with Paul – is released. The album cover features a photograph taken by Linda in Scotland.

The band Wings is formed with Linda on vocals and keyboard.

Wings’ first studio album Wild Life is released.

Linda and the band play to eleven universities in the UK as part of the ‘Wings University Tour’

Linda, the band and their families travel across nine countries and play twenty six shows, between July and August, as part of the ‘Wings Over Europe’ Tour. Linda documents their travels.

'Red Rose Speedway' is released using one of Linda’s photographs as the album cover

Wings tour the UK playing 18 shows in May and July of that summer.
Linda appears on the cover of Wings’ Band on the Run album.

Linda appears with Paul on the cover of 'Rolling Stone'. Linda is the first person to have both photographed the magazine cover and also had her portrait taken for the cover

Linda plays moog, keyboard and sings backing vocals for Mike McCartney’s debut album McGear.

Linda and the band travel across Europe, Australia, the USA and Canada as part of the 'Wings Over The World' tour

Linda photographs the album cover for Wings’ Venus and Mars.

Linda's first photography book 'Linda’s Pictures: A Collection of Photographs' is published

Linda photographs the cover of Wings At The Speed Of Sound. Linda’s track ‘Cook of the House’ features on the album.

Linda continues to travel with the band Wings as they embark on their ‘Wings Over America’ tour.

Linda photographs extensively during this period – from the band recording to documenting her travels around the USA.

Linda's first solo photographic exhibition 'Linda's Pictures' opens at the Jan Baum & Iris Silverman Gallery in Los Angeles

Son James is born.

Linda’s single ‘Seaside Woman’ is released under the moniker of Suzy And The Red Stripes.

Wings’ single ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ is released and becomes the first single in UK history to sell over two million copies nationwide.

Linda photographs the album artwork for 'London Town'

The Oriental Nightfish, an animated film by Ian Emes, with music by Linda McCartney and Wings, is released.

Wings’ album 'Back To The Egg' is released

Animator Oscar Grillo creates a cartoon short film of Linda’s song ‘Seaside Woman’, which goes on to win the Short Film Palme d’Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival

Linda photographs Paul for his McCartney II album cover.

Wings break up

Linda’s interest in documentary photography develops this year, which can be seen in her work from a family holiday in Montserrat to a visit to Brighton Beach, England.
James. Eastbourne, 1981.

Linda’s second photo book 'Linda’s Photographs' is published

Her photograph of Paul features on the cover of Paul’s album Tug of War.

Linda photographs the cover of Michael Jackson’s single ‘The Girl Is Mine’, which features Paul McCartney.

Linda photographs the cover of Paul’s 'Pipes of Peace' album

Linda performs on the album and appears in the music video for ‘Say Say Say’, alongside Paul and Michael Jackson.

Linda and Paul are photographed on the cover of 'Press To Play' by George Hurrell

A second version of Linda’s 'Seaside Woman' is released

Linda’s first major exhibition, 'Linda McCartney', is shown at the Royal Photographic Society in Bath, England

Linda receives the Distinguished Photographers Award from 'Women In Photography'

‘Women In Photography’, a Los Angeles-based organisation that promoted women photographers and their work. Other recipients include Eve Arnold, Annie Leibovitz, Mary Ellen Mark, Berenice Abbott and Carrie Mae Weems.

Linda, having experimented with 19th Century photographic techniques, dedicates a photo book to her cyanotypes and salt prints entitled 'Sun Prints'

A Sun Prints exhibition opens at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Linda appears in British TV comedy Bread.

James. Used on the cover of 'Sun Prints'.

Linda’s cibrachrome prints are exhibited at Mayor Gallery, London. A photograph from the exhibition becomes the cover artwork for Paul’s album 'Flowers in the Dirt'

Linda’s first vegetarian cookbook, Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, is published.

Linda is recognised as a pioneer of vegetarian food in the United Kingdom and beyond.

Light Lunches, Linda’s second cookery book is published.

Linda McCartney Foods is launched. Linda promotes the brand on ‘Good Morning Britain’

Linda performs on MTV Unplugged, with the performance later released as an album.

Linda's renowned photo book 'Sixties: Portrait of an Era' is published, with commentary throughout the book on each photographic session

A Linda focused documentary Behind the Lens is aired on BBC 2. It follows Linda photographing the streets of New York and a market in the East End of London. Linda is interviewed about her photography as are some of her  friends and peers, such as Brian Clarke and Hazel Archer.

A travelling exhibition accompanies the release of  ‘Sixties: Portrait of an Era’, which travels to California, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, England, Canada, Germany, Slovenia, Puerto Rico and Japan until 2007.

Main Courses, Linda’s third cookery book is published.

Linda collaborates with Sue Timney-Fowler on a ‘National Perspective Collaboration’ making ethical scarves printed with Linda’s photographs

Linda travels the world as part of Paul’s band during his ‘The New World Tour’. She continues to photograph life on the road, as well as capturing and preserving experiences from different cultures in each of the countries she visits.

'Roadworks', a photo book focusing mainly on Linda’s work taken on the street or from a car window, is published

'Behind the Lens' wins a CableACE Award in the ‘International Cultural Performing Arts/ Theatre/ Musical or Series’ category at the American Cable Awards

Linda is diagnosed with breast cancer.

Paul and Linda appear on an episode of The Simpsons called ‘Lisa the Vegetarian’.

The Linda McCartney Foods factory opens in Fakenham, England.

A touring exhibition of 'Roadworks' opens simultaneously at both the International Center of Photography, New York and at The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, Bradford, England

Both Linda’s Summer Kitchen and Linda’s Winter Kitchen are published.

Linda collaborates with artist Brian Clarke, combining her photography with his stained glass technique

Musée Suisse du Vitrail, Switzerland exhibits Brian and Linda’s unique works of art.

Roadworks is exhibited at The Butler Institute, Ohio, USA and goes on to travel to Germany and Japan.

Linda photographs Paul for the cover of his Flaming Pie album and features on the album herself.

Linda passes away from breast cancer, 17th April 1998

Wide Prairie, the posthumous solo album from Linda McCartney, was compiled by Paul after Linda’s tragic death.

Among its 16 tracks are 13 original songs written by Linda and three cover versions.

The music video to accompany Wide Prairie premieres posthumously at Edinburgh Film Festival.

Wide Open a photography exhibition is held at Bonni Benrubi, New York. Bonni Benrubi worked on the exhibition, and accompanying book, with Linda and they chose to focus on the openness and freedom found in her work as well as her mastery of different photographic techniques from photogravure still lifes, platinum print landscapes to Polaroid transfers.

The cookery book Linda McCartney On Tour is published.

'Sixties: Portrait Of An Era' exhibition tours again from 1999-2007

Linda’s last completed photographic project, 'Light From Within', is published with an accompanying exhibition at Bonni Benrubi, New York

Kew Gardens exhibit Linda’s still life photographs alongside scarves inspired by her work.

'Linda McCartney: Snapshots' is exhibited at Museum im Kleihues-Bau, Kornwestheim, Germany

'Linda McCartney: Photographs', an exhibition of platinum prints, opens at James Hyman Gallery, London

'Linda McCartney: Life In Photographs' opens at Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York and Phillips de Pury & Company, London

Life In Photographs, a retrospective volume of Linda’s photographic work, is published by Taschen.

'Linda McCartney Retrospective' opens at Kunst Haus Wien, Vienna

'Linda McCartney Retrospective' travels to Ville de Montpellier, Montpellier, France and then to the Daelim Cultural Foundation, Seoul, South Korea

Mother Daughter, an exhibition of Linda and her daughter Mary McCartney’s photographs, opens at Gagosian Gallery, New York

Mary and Stella. Jamaica, 1975
Mary and Stella. Jamaica, 1975