("Live and Let Die" playing)

You know, when you think about it, it's kind of a miracle that Paul McCartney has made it this far.

(laughter) A big-time solo career wasn't just

handed to him like some lucky America's Got Talent contestant.

He had to earn it.

All those early years slogging through groups

like the Quarrymen, Johnny and the Moondogs, the Silver Beatles, and finally

the plain old Beatles.

(laughter) I can't begin to tell you how awful those early years were.

(laughter) With the Beatles, Paul was forced

out of the friendly intimacy of clubs and made to perform in ever larger spaces.

No, no, wait, you have to see this to believe it.

(laughter) Places normally reserved for baseball games, bullfights, papal masses.

And then things turned really, really bad.

The Beatles were assaulted by throngs of hostile

young female gang members.

(laughter) The police had to be called in to protect them.

(laughter) The National Institutes of Health

called the epidemic "Beatlemania." There was no cure.

Finally, The Beatles were reduced to performing

on The Ed Sullivan Show, sharing the stage with a mouse named Topo Gigio.

But let's move on.

Paul McCartney is a genius.

(applause) Yeah.

Paul married rock and roll to beauty and forever

raised the bar for composers, musicians, and fans.

Paul, we honor you tonight for your career

as a Beatle, the leader of Wings, an incredible solo performer, the creator of our favorite songs

and, yes, as a Moondog, too.

(applause) (piano playing early jazz) PAUL McCARTNEY: My dad used to play piano, and

he would play Paul Whiteman-- "Stairway to Paradise," "Chicago," and stuff-- so through

him I've always loved that kind of music.

For my birthday he once bought me a trumpet, and I went back to the shopand traded it in

for a guitar.

BALDWIN: Rock and roll was on the radio, and Paul knew every song.

A boy named Lennon was playing at a church fair.

Paul sang his way right into his band.

Paul: John and I used what was the dining

room to rehearse and to write songs.

We finished off "She Loves You" there and played it to my dad.

When he heard "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah,"

yeah," he said to us, "Son," he said, "there's enough of these Americanisms around.

Couldn't you just say, 'Yes, yes, yes'?"

BALDWIN: They wrote all day and played all

night, working the sound, finding the look, becoming The Beatles.

("I Want to Hold Your Hand" playing) They

rocked their way from underground clubs to Buckingham Palace.

Then, America.

ED SULLIVAN: Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beatles!

("I Saw Her Standing There" playing)

BALDWIN: The magic was in the melodies.

("Yesterday" playing) Musical alchemy.

Songs the entire world was singing

at the same time.

Every album was richer than the one before.

It was the great musical adventure of the 20th century.

As they were growing, they were growing apart.

They had been his mates, his best friends.

They had made history together.

Who would he be without them?

The man who helped creat a revolution had to reinvent himself.

Music was his connection to the world.

He missed it, and so did we.

50 years on, and his concerts still send

a current through the crowd.

Paul was born with the gift of song.

He gave the songs to us to keep forever.

The Kennedy Center Honors will return with Steven Tyler, James Taylor and Dave Grohl.

Ladies and Gentlemen, No Doubt

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dave Grohl and Norah Jones.

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen,

Ladies and Gentlemen, Steven Tyler.

I've never been prouder than I am standing right here

at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Abbey Road.

DO-IT!

Ladies and Gentlemen, James Taylor.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mavis Staples.