Paul McCartney Says This Beatles Member Instigated Band's Split

Paul McCartney is setting the record straight on the breakup of the Beatles.

McCartney, 79, is set to speak on an episode of BBC Radio 4's series "This Cultural Life," where he makes it clear that he wasn't the one who initiated the band's split.

"I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny," he said of John Lennon in a preview of his upcoming interview shared by The Guardian.

According to McCartney, Lennon "walked into a room one day and said I am leaving The Beatles."

"Is that instigating the split, or not?" McCartney added.

McCartney said he had wanted them to stick together because they were still creating "pretty good stuff" after eight years together. "This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue," he explained.

While discussing what he considered the "most difficult period of my life," McCartney said he believes the band would have continued for years had Lennon not quit.

"It could have been. The point of it really was that John was making a new life with Yoko. John had always wanted to sort of break loose from society because, you know, he was brought up by his Aunt Mimi, who was quite repressive, so he was always looking to break loose," he said in the preview.

McCartney explained that following Lennon's decision, he, Ringo Starr and George Harrison were "left to pick up the pieces." Confusion about who initiated the split then arose because their manager, Allen Klein, advised them to keep quiet while business deals were concluded.

"So for a few months we had to pretend," he said. "It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles, but we couldn't just walk away."

According to McCartney, he eventually "let the cat out of the bag" after being "fed up of hiding it." "Around about that time we were having little meetings and it was horrible. It was the opposite of what we were. We were musicians, not meeting people," he said.

Things got messy after the band's split when McCartney sued the Beatles in 1970. A judge agreed with McCartney's argument to legally divide the band, according to The Telegraph.

"I had to fight and the only way I could fight was in suing the other Beatles, because they were going with Klein. And they thanked me for it years later," McCartney explained.

The singer, songwriter, and bassist was believed by some to be the one behind the band's split as he was the first Beatle to address it publicly. McCartney was also accused of spoiling the group dynamic by asking lawyers to settle their disputes.

However, various reports, including journalist Bob Spitz's book "The Beatles: The Biography," claimed that prior to McCartney's statement, Lennon had already told people privately that he left the group and that conflicts left the members aware their time together was over.

The episode of BBC Radio 4's "This Cultural Life" featuring McCartney is scheduled to air on Oct. 23. The following Monday, recordings of McCartney reading from his new book, "Lyrics," will also be available on BBC Sounds.