Could Wings be the most successful group that’s never been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? An exhibit opening Friday makes a sound case.
Since the group’s founding in 1971, fans and critics often wondered if Wings was simply Paul McCartney’s backing group. However, the Rock Hall’s collections director, Andy Leach, said it’s time for a reappraisal.
“It's misunderstood, I think, by a lot of people and underappreciated as well,” he said. “It was definitely a collaborative initiative that he started. It wasn't to recreate what he had done with the Beatles. It was a new way of doing things. It was a new way of defining what a rock band could be.”
Leach said McCartney’s family focus during this era, adding his wife, Linda, to the group and bringing his kids on tour, was unheard of. The group’s stage craft was also first-rate, incorporating then-new concepts such as lasers and pyrotechnics. The exhibit touches on all of that and includes artifacts ranging from Linda’s well-worn Nikon camera to proof sheets for the “Band on the Run” LP cover. A large portion of the exhibit even recreates Rude Studio.
“It’s basically a homegrown studio that Paul developed on his farm in Scotland,” Leach said. “He still owns the farm to this day. In the early ‘70s, he built it as a way to start recording demos and rehearse with the band that ultimately became Wings. If they wanted to record something more elaborate, they'd go elsewhere, like down to London or to Abbey Road. A lot of the stuff we've heard, especially the demos that are on a lot of these box sets, are straight from Rude Studio.”
In the past two years, McCartney has opened the vaults and released two Wings albums, a book and the documentary “Man on the Run.”
Could this activity lead to Wings being inducted in its own right? The hall made a push in 2012 to induct several backing groups, such as Buddy Holly’s Crickets and James Brown’s Famous Flames. Leach said he would love to see Wings recognized too.
“I was kind of hoping maybe they would have been on the ballot this year, but I've hoped it before,” Leach said. “I've had a long list of artists I would like to see inducted, and many of them have been inducted now since I've been here. So, I think it's never too late.”
McCartney was inducted as a solo artist in 1999, and the late Denny Laine was inducted with his prior band, the Moody Blues, in 2018. He was the only constant non-McCartney in Wings as they racked up six chart-topping singles, five number one albums and played around the world - from small British universities to massive arenas like Richfield Coliseum.
After the band’s 1980 Japanese tour was canceled following Paul McCartney’s arrest for marijuana possession, the group drifted apart. Soon after, he released a fully solo album, “McCartney II,” on which he played all the instruments.
On Saturday, former bandmembers Laurence Juber and Steve Holley will be at the Rock Hall for a day of Wings-themed events, but McCartney will be in New York to appear on “Saturday Night Live.”
The exhibit is on view through at least the end of 2026.
