On This Date, June 19th in 1967: Paul McCartney was the first British pop star to publicly admit using LSD, in chatting with a reporter who had inquired about it. Paul’s LSD quote appeared in Queen, a UK-based magazine at the time. The quote was also then reprinted by Life magazine in their June 1967 feature, ‘The New Far-Out Beatles: They’re grown men now and creating extraordinary musical sounds’ by Thomas Thompson.

In both articles, Paul McCartney was quoted as saying, “After I took it (LSD), it opened my eyes. We only use one-tenth of our brain. Just think what we could accomplish if we could only tap that hidden part. It would mean a whole new world.” ITV seized the opportunity to interview Paul about this public admission. The controversy would become a springboard for discussing the responsibilities of celebrities and journalists. The interview was filmed by ITV on June 19th 1967, in Paul’s backyard garden on Cavendish Avenue, and would be telecast in Britain later that evening. Paul had just celebrated his 25th birthday the previous day. The Beatles‘ latest LP Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was number one on the album charts – released less than three weeks prior on June 1st.