Linda McCartney

Linda Eastman was born Linda Eastman in New York on September 24, 1941, she was the daughter of copyright attorney Lee Eastman and not, as is widely held, a member of the Eastman/Kodak family; photography was nevertheless in her blood, and during the 1960s she became one of the most noted shutterbugs covering the rock music scene, publishing portraits of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and the Doors in the pages of Rolling Stone and other magazines. She met McCartney during the launch of the Beatles' 1967 landmark Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band, and they began dating following the dissolution of his longtime relationship with girlfriend Jane Asher; ultimately, on March 12, 1969, the couple got married at the Marylebone Registry Office in London, England.
At Paul's insistence, she began studying piano; the 1971 LP Ram was credited to both Paul and Linda, and later that year she was recruited to join his new band, Wings. Although the criticisms leveled at her musical skills were often venomous, she continued recording and touring with her husband throughout the years which followed, serving as the inspiration behind many of Paul's solo hits as well.
McCartney was more successful outside of music, earning respect as a high-profile force for animal rights; a staunch vegetarian, she published a series of best-selling cookbooks (1989's Home Cooking and 1995's Linda's Kitchen among them) and also created her own highly profitable line of frozen vegetarian meals produced at ecologically-sensitive factories. Additionally, she published a series of photo collections, including 1982's Linda's Pictures and 1992's Sixties: Portrait of an Era, and even won an animation award at the Cannes Film Festival for her 1980 project Seaside Woman. In 1995 McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer, and on April 17, 1998 the disease took her life at the age of 56; a collection of solo recordings, Wide Prairie, was issued posthumously later that same year.

Linda McCartney Images:
Portrait Of An Era- The Beatles