Paul McCartney furthers his legacy on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart as “Days We Left Behind” debuts at No. 22 on the list dated April 18.
The song previews the legend’s album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, due May 29.
McCartney last appeared on Adult Contemporary with “Come On to Me,” which hit No. 10 in October 2018, becoming his 19th top 10 as a soloist. The sum includes five No. 1s, with three as part of Wings — “My Love” (three weeks, 1973), “Silly Love Songs” (one week, 1976) and “Let ‘Em In” (one, 1976) — along with “Ebony and Ivory” with Stevie Wonder (five, 1982), and “The Girl Is Mine” with Michael Jackson (four, 1982-83). He first reached the chart on his own in 1971 with the No. 4-peaking “Another Day.”
McCartney initially made the chart in the 1960s via The Beatles, who earned three top 10s in 1970-76, led by the No. 1 “Let It Be” (four weeks, 1970).
His latest marks his highest debut on Adult Contemporary since 1978, when “With a Little Luck,” with Wings, entered at No. 21.
“Days We Left Behind” is also drawing early play at adult alternative radio. It debuted at No. 7 on the Rock Digital Songs chart dated April 11.
“This is very much a memory song for me,” McCartney, 83, shared in a statement announcing the new album. “The album title, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, comes from a lyric in this track. I was thinking just that, about the days I left behind, and I do often wonder if I’m just writing about the past, but then I think, ‘How can you write about anything else?’
“It’s just a lot of memories of Liverpool,” he continued. “It involves a bit in the middle about John [Lennon] and Forthlin Road, which is the street I used to live in. Dungeon Lane is near there. I used to live in a place called Speke, which is quite working class. We didn’t have much at all, but it didn’t matter because all the people were great and you didn’t notice you didn’t have much.”
All charts dated April 18 will update Tuesday, April 14, on Billboard.com.
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