12 Musicians You Didn't Realise Have Truly Bizarre Alter Egos

11. Paul McCartney's Electronica Persona, Gladys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wQmHhlZlfg In his post-Beatles fame, Paul McCartney has earned the right to do pretty much anything he wants. But Paul says that kind of creative freedom also comes with a Midas-like stress, with constant pressure to turn anything he touches into gold. In working with producer Youth under the moniker The Fireman, McCartney has figured out a way to relieve some of that pressure: pretend you're not Paul McCartney. So in the studio, he refers to himself as Gladys Jenkins, allowing the former Beatle to craft lavish, electronic soundscapes without getting inside his own head too much. He explains it thusly:

When you go to the microphone, I don't think of it as going as Paul McCartney and it frees you up. I'd say, "Right, you're going to become Gladys Jenkins."

And while the idea of Paul McCartney going full on electronica might seem a little strange with or without the split personality, it's not exactly a new venture. Paul actually wanted to give his simplest and arguably most-beloved tune, "Yesterday," an electronic backing when he first wrote it. He still wishes he had.