Paul McCartney has paid tribute to his “dear old mate” and former Quarrymen bandmate Len Garry, who has died at the age of 84.
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Garry’s passing was confirmed by his family on Monday (March 2), who revealed he had died of pneumonia.
“The doctor told us he had hours to live and I said straight away, ‘He has to come home,’” Which the doctor allowed. I travelled with dad in the ambulance and got him home,” his daughter Jane wrote on Instagram.
“I love you Dad and I will miss you Dad for the rest of my life. I’m beyond devastated.”
McCartney shared a photo of the original Quarrymen in tribute with the caption: “My dear old mate from the Quarrymen, Len Garry, has passed away. He was a lovely guy and I’m sad to see him go but glad that we had so many fun times together. Rest in Peace Len, Love Paul.”
McCartney and Garry began making music together as schoolboys and were both part of The Quarrymen’s first steady line-up, which also consisted of John Lennon, Colin Hanton, Rod Davis, Pete Shotton and Eric Griffiths. Lennon was already part of the band when McCartney joined in 1957, which was how they first met. George Harrison later joined the group on bass and after numerous line-up and name changes, they became the Beatles.
A further tribute shared on The Quarrymen’s social media said: “He will be sorely missed by us and Beatle fans across the globe. Our thoughts are with Len’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
McCartney recently made headlines by joining Letterboxd after answering a fan question about his favourite films.
Revealing his top four films, he said: “The Girl Can’t Help It, I always love that one and watch it again and again. On the Waterfront, with Marlon Brando, fantastic film. Get Out, I think Jordan Peele did a great job with that. And The Last Waltz – that’s a nice one to round it out.”
He also gave some insight into his new documentary, Paul McCartney: Man On The Run, writing that watching the film was “like a period of my life flashing before my eyes.”
“It’s wonderful because it’s full of different emotions and facets. One of the big things for me is seeing so much of Linda, which is great for me and the kids,” he added.
He went on to write: There are parts that are embarrassing. I even asked Morgan Neville if we should take some of those bits out; like me doing ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ with a red nose on, and the band in silly outfits. I thought maybe we didn’t need that. But he said, no, that it works, and that the ups and downs make the ending feel more earned. I think he’s right.
“Overall, it’s a success story. The big question after the Beatles was: How do you follow that? Do you not bother? Or if you try, how? I think we did it in a particularly madcap way, and that’s what’s good about the film, it shows how we pulled it off.”