British artist Mike McCartney (b. 1944, Liverpool) is a celebrated musician, photographer, and performance artist, also recognised as the younger brother of Paul McCartney. A keen photographer since he was a teenager, McCartney continued taking pictures during his entire musical career and beyond, capturing precious moments as The Beatles emerged in the 1960s. Beatles' manager Brian Epstein nicknamed McCartney "Flash Harry" as he was always taking pictures with a flash gun.
With the sixties in full swing and The Beatles rising to fame, 1962 saw McCartney join a performance group which soon became known as The Scaffold – a satirical comedy, poetry and music trio also including Roger McGough and John Gorman. Adopting the stage name ‘Mike McGear’ so as not to capitalise on his family connections to the Fab Four, he brought The Scaffold into the spotlight in 1967 by writing their first top five single ‘Thank U Very Much’. Between 1966 and 1974 they recorded a number of UK hit singles, the most successful being the 1968 Christmas number one single, "Lily the Pink".
In 1974 McCartney signed to Warner Bros. Records and released his second "serious" musical album, McGear, in which he collaborated with his brother Paul and Paul's band Wings. Also recorded during McCartney's sessions with Wings was a Scaffold "reunion" song, "Liverpool Lou", which became The Scaffold's last top-ten hit. This led to the group's re-formation in 1974, and they recorded and performed together through 1977. McCartney’s final release, still using the name Mike McGear, was the 1981 song, "No Lar Di Dar (Is Lady Di)." This was a satirical tribute to Lady Diana Spencer, released at the time of her wedding to Prince Charles. After returning from music in the 1980s, Mike McCartney decided to end his use of the "McGear" pseudonym and revert to his family name.
McCartney has had several photography books published featuring his images of The Beatles backstage and on tour. A limited-edition book of photographs he took backstage at Live8 in 2005 saw the profit from the first thousand books sold donated to the Band Aid Trust. That year, McCartney also exhibited a collection of photographs taken in the 1960s called "Mike McCartney's Liverpool Life", both in Liverpool and other venues such as The Provincial Museum of Alberta. He also took the cover photograph for Paul McCartney's 2005 solo album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.
McCartney’s photographic works have been exhibited around the world, including Scotland, Ireland, Japan, US and Canada, as well as a national venues such as St George’s Hall in Liverpool, where the gallery space has since been named the McCartney Gallery. McCartney’s photography contributed to the National Trust’s decision to restore his childhood home in Liverpool and open it as a tourist attraction. His work has also been featured in Q Magazine and are held in the National Portrait Gallery collection.
He currently lives with his family in Wirral.