Paul McCartney Says John Lennon Responsible for Beatles Breakup

Paul McCartney is making a bombshell claim — that it was the late John Lennon who broke up the Beatles and not him … something history has long blamed Paul for over the years.

The iconic rocker set the record straight — his version of it, anyway — with the Guardian, putting the blame squarely in John’s corner … claiming the guy walked in one day and announced he was parting ways with the group.

PMC was emphatic about who was at fault, saying … “Stop right there. I am not the person who instigated the split. Oh no, no, no. John walked into a room one day and said I am leaving the Beatles. Is that instigating the split, or not?” He adds, “This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue.”

He goes on to say the other 3 bandmates — Ringo Starr, George Harrison and himself — were left to pick up the pieces … and were even told to keep quiet about it as legal and business matters played out behind the scenes.

Eventually, McCartney made a public announcement in 1970 that he was leaving the band — the first member to publicly do so — and since then, he’s often been the one seen as the driving force.

Of course, there’ve been stories and rumors that John was, indeed, the one who kickstarted things — but this seems to be the first time Paul is endorsing that narrative. As you can imagine, he’s been asked about the breakup for years and years … but has always characterized it as a sad chapter, without really pointing the finger. Now, he is.

The timing here is very interesting … Saturday marked what would’ve been John’s 81st birthday, and Paul actually threw something up on Instagram to honor him. He posted a black and white photo of the two of them on their guitars, writing … “Happy Birthday thoughts for John – Paul.”

Some 24 hours later, he’s kinda bad-mouthing his old pal — who isn’t here to defend himself. John was killed in 1980 by Mark David Chapman.