SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY - MCCARTNEY ROWED WITH JACKSON OVER ROYALTIES

MCCARTNEY ROWED WITH JACKSON OVER ROYALTIES

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY once fell out with MICHAEL JACKSON because he refused to give him a pay raise. The pair became close friends after recording a string of hit duets in the 1980s but fell out when Jackson - who purchased The Beatles' catalogue of songs Northern Songs in 1985 - refused to increase the songwriter's royalty rates. But MCCartney eventually realised he was financially sound so let go of his grudge against Jackson. He says, "(Michael Jackson) was like a family friend. Bite to eat, hang out and all of that. We fell out once he got Northern Songs. I put it to him and said, 'Look you are now historically placed to really give the Lennon/MCCartney writing duo their just desserts. They've been working for this company 30 years, they've never had a rise.' "I must have put it to him about three times. And I just never heard back. So it was like, 'Oh, well fine, if you've not any comment on that, then I'm afraid I sort of become a disgruntled employee.' "It wouldn't have needed much, it was just a kind of gesture of goodwill. So... I just changed my mindset, said, 'You know what? I'm fine, I've got enough."