McCartney’s holiday season was quite busy, including his trip to St. Barts and the release of his new album, “McCartney III,” which he wrote and recorded during the lockdown. In a promotional interview with actor Idris Elba, McCartney explained that he didn’t set out to make an album during the lockdown; it just happened naturally. “Everyone cleaned out their closets and accomplished all they had planned to do. Making an album was like that for me,” he said. “I had no intention of making an album. So I had ten tunes and wondered, ‘What am I going to do with them?’ I had no idea I was making an album, so I only recorded ten tracks.”

Regarding the album’s title, McCartney explained to Elba that the name “McCartney III” was a natural choice, given the solo nature of the project and its continuity with his previous solo albums, “McCartney I” and “McCartney II.” “I realized, since I played McCartney I and McCartney II myself, that I had done them in the same style, so this would be McCartney III. So then I thought, ‘Okay, now I know what I’m doing.’”