At 76-years-old, Sir Paul McCartney continues to perform for audiences around the world, as he still sells out shows. But even with his success, Paul not only still thinks about what could have been with The Beatles, but he still gets filled with sadness thinking about his late bandmates.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, the English musician says, “John [Lennon] and George [Harrison] are still a big part of my life, always will be. It would have been great to get the Beatles back together again. People always say what if? But we can’t, so, sadly, that’s not going to happen.”

The Beatles
Getty Images

Paul continues, “I often think about them with a lot of sadness, because they should still be here. In John’s case, it was a terrible thing. In George’s, a terrible illness.” John passed away in 1980 after being shot by Mark David Chapman. Mark is still behind bars at the Wende Correctional Facility in New York. George on the other hand died in 2001 after a battle with lung cancer.

“If by some strange fluke it was to happen, it would be beautiful,” Paul adds. “As a musician, you often have dreams about being in the studio or on stage, so I’m often with the guys. Just the other morning, I woke up and I was with George. And that was very nice. I think of George as my little mate – he was the youngest in the group. That’s how I run into John and George these days. So the Beatles have re-formed – in my head.”

The Beatles
Getty Images

While John and George have been gone for years now, Paul understands how lucky he is to have known them while they were alive. “Even though there is sadness, the main thing is the joy of knowing those two guys.” Paul says. “I miss them a lot.” After The Beatles’ rough breakup in 1970, Paul wrote a song titled “Dear Friend.” The song was about trying to make peace with John.

“I find it very emotional when I listen to it now,” Paul once said in a statement. “With ‘Dear Friend,’ that’s sort of me talking to John after we’d had all the sort of disputes about The Beatles break up,” Paul explained, and added, “I’m trying to say to John, ‘Look, it’s all cool. Have a glass to wine. Let’s be cool.’”

And let’s not forget about The Beatles’ drummer, Ringo Starr. Ringo is 78, and he recently performed with Paul earlier this month at London’s O2 arena. We can never forget about Ringo. Well, we have, but not this time.