A new exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame reframes Wings as both a musical success and a fascinating case study
Published
June 23, 2026 12:00PM (EDT)
Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Denny Laine of Wings at a recording studio in London (Michael Putland/Getty Images)
50 years ago, Paul McCartney went on tour in the United States with his band Wings. It was the first time he played live since The Beatles’ last tour in 1966. 2026 has become the year of Wings, with a wave of new historical and archival celebration around Sir Paul’s post-Beatles band. There’s a documentary (“Man On The Run”), a 550-page oral history (“Wings: The Story of a Band On The Run”), and the first major museum exhibit on Wings at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The end result of all of the above is both practical and aspirational: the total effort rounds up all of the loose ends around this era while there are still enough people around to talk about it, and officially induct Wings into McCartney’s larger legacy.
