Paul McCartney is without a doubt one of the most creative songwriters mainstream music has ever known, as evidenced by his latest album McCartney III, which finds the former Beatle still prospering at the top of the music industry as he celebrates his 80th birthday. As a solo artist throughout the last 50 years, McCartney left an indelible mark on music that can still be seen today. His work with The Beatles, on the other hand, will most certainly outlive us all. We went over every hit McCartney made with the Fab Four and selected 20 of the greatest.

McCartney and John Lennon may have had one of the most prolific songwriting collaborations of all time, but the two sometimes worked independently before collaborating. Macca intended to produce some of the songs entirely on his own, even recording a few tracks on his own.

Also read: Paul McCartney turns 80: His best solo songs, ranked

Paul McCartney decided to join The Beatles in 1957 and willingly played second fiddle to John Lennon for a while before branching out into his own songwriting career. Musically gifted, Macca possesses something that most musicians would kill for but only a few have – a nose for what the public wants.

It has witnessed the creation of ballads, rock numbers, songs that make you laugh, and tunes that bring you to the bridge by the world’s most famous bass player. Paul McCartney will be remembered as one of Britain’s, nay, the world’s most beloved artists and a cultural icon for the rest of his life.

Also read: Who is Paul McCartney?

“One of my biggest thrills for me still is sitting down with a guitar or a piano and just out of nowhere trying to make a song happen,” McCartney once remarked. “People think once you get famous and rich you move out of the public sphere and you have nothing left to write about,” he continued. “I’ve heard that – Bruce Springsteen was this real street boy, now he’s got this big house. How does that compute? If you don’t look at the material side of someone’s life, if you look at more the emotional side, there’s always a wealth of stuff to write about.” Because of this, McCartney has been able to remain significant for such a long time.

Spoilt for choices, picking the 20 songs listed below, was boggling, to say the least.

20. I am Looking Through You

19. We Can Work It Out

18. Paperback Writer

17. I’ve Just Seen a Face

16. Love Me Do

15. I’ll Follow the Sun

14. Helter Skelter

13. I Saw Her Standing There

12. All My Loving

11. Can’t Buy Me Love

10. Oh! Darling

9. Get Back

8. For No One

7. Penny Lane

6. Eleanor Rigby

5. Let It Be

4. Blackbird

3. Yesterday

2. Here, There and Everywhere

1. Hey Jude