Timeline Albums, EPs & singles Songs Films Concerts Sessions People Interviews Articles

Sep 21, 1989 › Jul 29, 1990

The Paul McCartney World Tour

By Paul McCartney

Last updated on June 4, 2023

Details

  • First date: Thursday, September 21, 1989
  • Last date: Sunday, July 29, 1990
  • Number of concerts: 104
  • Number of countries: 13

Band members

Line-up Discover Backing band 1989-1990

Master release

Albums covering this tour

Related articles

From Wikipedia:

The Paul McCartney World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by Paul McCartney during 1989 and 1990. It was McCartney’s first major tour outing in ten years, since Wings UK Tour 1979, and his first world tour in thirteen years, since the 1976 Wings Over the World tour. It was also his first tour under his name.

While the tour coincided with the release of his Flowers in the Dirt album, it was thematically more about finally embracing his Beatles past, including for the first time, in any of his tours, a substantial number of Beatles songs in the set list.

The tour was documented by the 1990 live albums Tripping the Live Fantastic and Tripping the Live Fantastic: Highlights!, and the 1991 concert film Get Back. A one-hour tour documentary was also aired on Channel 4 TV in the UK, titled From Rio to Liverpool.

From paulmccartney.com:

Incredibly, the Paul McCartney ‘Get Back’ Tour of 1989-90 – his first since 1979 – travelled 100,331 miles, with Paul playing to a total of 2,843,297 fans over 102 gigs. At the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 21st 1990, Paul even set a new world record, performing to the largest stadium crowd ever gathered in the history of rock and roll at 184, 368. Unsurprisingly, this tour was the most successful of Paul’s illustrious career. In America, Paul became the artist with the most ticket sales in 1990 (an average of 49,209 per gig), beating the likes of Madonna, The Grateful Dead and Janet Jackson. The highlight of the tour for Paul was when he played to over 50,000 on the banks of the Mersey – his biggest ever gig so far in his hometown of Liverpool – and, at the end of a medley dedicated to John, the band stopped playing ‘Give Peace A Chance’, only for the crowd to carry on chanting the lyrics, forcing Paul to restart the song. “That,” he said “was one of the greatest moments of my career. That was what you do it all for, really”.   

That tour was the high point of my life. It doesn’t get much better than that. It really doesn’t.

Robbie McIntosh – From Robbie McIntosh: Guitarist for Paul McCartney, John Mayer, Pretenders – Rolling Stone, May 16, 2023

Is it stressful to be onstage and realize roughly a billion people are watching you play?

I guess so. I’d be much more aware of that now. I was still only 27 back then. You’re not that scared when you’re 27. You just get on with it. I’m much more aware now. When I played with McCartney in Rio to all those people, it just felt like another gig. I didn’t know it was going to break all those records.

Robbie McIntosh – From Robbie McIntosh: Guitarist for Paul McCartney, John Mayer, Pretenders – Rolling Stone, May 16, 2023
Paul with his 1989/90 touring band
From paulmccartney.com
Taken from the 1989/90 World Tour programme

104 concerts • 13 countries

Going further

Paul McCartney writing

Talk more talk, chat more chat

Notice any inaccuracies on this page? Have additional insights or ideas for new content? Or just want to share your thoughts? We value your feedback! Please use the form below to get in touch with us.

[…] The Paul McCartney World Tour would continue until mid-1990, encompassing 104 concerts in 13 countries. I saw 11 shows on that tour, starting with the two at Madison Square Garden and winding up at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh in July. In between, I also saw Paul perform in London, Atlanta, Miami and Philly. […]

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

2024 • Please note this site is strictly non-commercial. All pictures, videos & quoted texts remain the property of the respective copyright owner, and no implication of ownership by us is intended or should be inferred. Any copyright owner who wants something removed should contact us and we will do so immediately. Alternatively, we would be delighted to provide credits.