AFP 

London, Jun 19: Paul McCartney was just 24 when The Beatles first recorded their hit track "When I'm Sixty-Four". Forty years on, the former Beatle finally found out the answers to the long list of questions contained in the song as he celebrated his landmark birthday on Sunday.

Born in Liverpool in 1942, James Paul McCartney was just 15 when he wrote the famous song, one of The Beatles' best known, which was later included on the legendary "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album in 1967.

Today he and drummer Ringo Starr are the only living ex-Beatles.

But McCartney's birthday celebrations are likely to be very different from the cosy but ordinary existence he imagined in the song, whose lyrics include the lines "We can rent a cottage on the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear" and "You can knit a sweater by the fireside, Sunday mornings go for a ride".

McCartney's first wife Linda died of cancer in 1998 at the age of 56 after 29 years of marriage.

A month ago he announced the end of his marriage to second wife Heather Mills, 38.

The singer-songwriter has not spoken about the details of the separation, although British journalists have not been so discreet.

Mills' lawyer recently announced that once the divorce is complete, she plans to sue over allegations in the tabloid press that she was formerly a prostitute.

The Sunday Mirror newspaper said McCartney planned to celebrate his birthday at his farmhouse in Sussex, southern England, with his two elder daughters, Stella, the renowned fashion designer, and photographer Mary.