10 Greatest Career Resurrections In Rock History

3. Paul McCartney

It really felt like the entire rock scene had the wind knocked out of them when the Beatles decided to call it quits after Abbey Road. Since most of the '60s were shaped by this young hopeful band from Liverpool, this was treated with the same kind of sorrow that we got when Buddy Holly died on that winter night back in the '50s. That didn't mean the members were finished though, and Paul McCartney made that abundantly clear with his solo career.

It wasn't the warmest of journeys back though. Across his first few solo masterpieces like his eponymous debut and RAM, fans weren't as willing to accept a new album from the Cute One if it didn't have the John Lennon seal of approval. Even when putting together Wings with Denny Laine, albums like Wild Life left a lot more to be desired, with songs that amounted to nothing more than sketches. Then Band on the Run happened...and everything clicked.

Written during a tumultuous time that left half of the band quitting, McCartney went to Nigeria and came through with some of the most ear-gasmic songs of his solo career, from the experience of the title track to the return to the more rocking material on songs like Jet. Even with the long journey back to the spotlight, Wings still managed to take flight eventually.