Linda McCartney’s funeral in 1998 included a performance of The Beatles’ 1970 song ‘Let It Be’, giving the track a personal new significance for Paul McCartney and his family. The choice reflected both Linda’s central role in supporting Paul after The Beatles’ break-up and the profound grief caused by her death from breast cancer.

Linda, a photographer, musician and animal-rights campaigner, married Paul in 1969 and later performed with Wings; she also founded a vegetarian and vegan food company in 1992. She died in Tucson, Arizona, on 17 April 1998, aged 56, after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995; around 700 people attended her London memorial, including George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Paul had written ‘Let It Be’ amid tensions within The Beatles, inspired by a dream of his late mother, and its message of acceptance resonated differently at Linda’s memorial.