On This Day, Dec. 5, 1974: Paul McCartney and Wings release ‘Band on the Run’

On This Day, Dec. 5, 1974…

Paul McCartney and Wings released their third album, Band on the Run, which became a huge hit and remains McCartney’s most successful non-Beatles album.

The album produced two hits, the title track and “Jet,” and went to #1 in the U.S. and the U.K.

The cover featured McCartney, his wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine posing as escaped convicts alongside actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee, British boxer John Conteh, U.K. broadcasters Michael Parkinson and Clement Freud, and English entertainer Kenny Lynch.

To celebrate the anniversary, McCartney released a special 50th anniversary edition of the album in February 2024.

McCartney’s post-Beatles career with Wings is also the subject of a new documentary, Man on the Run, premiering globally on Prime Video on Feb. 25, 2026.

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