Sir Paul McCartney thinks ''martyr'' John Lennon is more famous than him.

The Beatles star believes his late bandmate, who was shot in New York, is more well known because of the circumstances of his death.

He said: ''John did a lot of great work, yeah. And post-Beatles he did more great work, but he also did a lot of not-great work. Now the fact that he's now martyred has elevated him to a James Dean [level], and beyond.

''So whilst I didn't mind that - I agreed with it - I understood that now there was going to be revisionism. It was going to be: John was the one.''

The 73-year-old legendary musician also opened up about the controversy surrounding how the pair's songs were credited.

He added to Esquire magazine: ''It's a good logo, like Rodgers and Hammerstein. 'Hammerstein and Rodgers' doesn't work. So I thought, 'OK.''

Speaking about the track 'Yesterday' - which Paul claims he wrote himself - he added: ''I said, 'Could we have ''By Paul McCartney and John Lennon''; wouldn't that be a good idea?

''And I went, 'Argh! Come on, lads!' Anyway, they wouldn't do it.''