I've no doubt that many, many people will support Macca through thick and thin, regardless of his age, voice quality, etc. Good luck to them - I merely made a passing comment based on switching on the TV and finding him on it. I don't buy the argument that just because someone gives pleasure to millions they're beyond any sort of criticism.

I suppose there's a bit of me that wishes that people would grow old gracefully and adapt themselves to what they're actually capable of doing. Many of us at that age (and I'm nearly 70) choose material to perform which suits what our voice, in keys which match what we can sing. My own voice, for better or worse, has dropped between two to three tones in the last 40 years - and I choose material to perform, and keys to perform in, which suit that tonal drop.

McCartney's a talented musician who is inevitably going to be locked for part of the time into that enviable and famous back-catalogue from Beatles days - tunes that many of us bopped to in teenage days and beyond. Nothing wrong with that and - if he can still hack it - good luck. But if the voice can't hack it, then he's bound to come in for a bit of criticism.