Paul McCartney says that John Lennon - not him - was the one who 'instigated' Beatles split

• The Guardian published an excerpt from an interview with Paul McCartney.
• McCartney, 79, claimed that John Lennon was the one who suggested the Beatles split up.

Paul McCartney said John Lennon initiated the infamous split between the Beatles more than 50 years ago.

In an excerpt of an interview with The Guardian, McCartney attempted to set the record straight about how he, Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr parted ways. The outlet reported that at the time, McCartney took much of the blame from fans.

McCartney, who called their split and the aftermath the "most difficult period" of his life, addressed the breakup when asked about his solo career.

"Stop right there. I am not the person who instigated the split. Oh no, no, no. John walked into a room one day and said I am leaving the Beatles. Is that instigating the split, or not?" McCartney said.

He added: 'This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue."

McCartney, 79, told The Guardian that Lennon found his decision to leave the Beatles "quite thrilling" and "rather like a divorce." However, he said that the remaining three members were "left to pick up the pieces."

McCartney continued that the group's manager, Allen Klein, instructed the members to stay quiet about the split while he finished business deals.

"So for a few months we had to pretend," McCartney told the outlet. "It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles but we couldn't just walk away."

McCartney added that he eventually got "fed up" with hiding the split and decided to "let the cat out of the bag."

McCartney spoke to a journalist in 1970 about whether the Beatles' hiatus was temporary or permanent. His answer prompted publications to report that the rock band had come to an end, History reported.

He later filed a suit to dissolve the Beatles' business partnership, History reported.

"I had to live with that because that was what people saw. All I could do is say, no," McCartney told The Guardian.

After the Beatles broke up, the members pursued personal projects. Lennon divorced his first wife in 1968 before marrying Yoko Ono one year later. He was fatally shot in 1980 and died at New York City's Roosevelt Hospital, History reported.