Did Paul or John sing more songs as a Beatle?

Question

I know they divided singing duties and even sang some songs as a duet, but statistically, who took the lead vocal more often? My guess would be Paul. It's kinda hard to tell their voices apart sometimes, though.

Answer 1

Turns out that Lennon sang 103 songs with the Beatles, while McCartney sang only 84. In addition, John is credited with lead but shared vocals with Paul 21 times, with Paul and George together eight times, and with George once. Paul is credited with lead but shared vocals with John on only four songs.

Answer 2

The answer might surprise you. Amazingly, according to Wikipedia, it was a tie: Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney are credited with singing lead vocals in 98 recordings by the Beatles. Here is the breakdown according to their records:

John Lennon, 98 songs.

Paul McCartney, 98 songs.

John and Paul together, 28 songs.

John and George Harrison, 2 songs.

John, Paul and George, 9 songs

John Paul George and Ringo Starr, 3 songs.

(Also, George solo, 41 songs,

Ringo alone, 12 songs,

and going back to the earliest records, former Beatle Pete Best, 4 songs, and Stuart Sutcliffe 2 songs.)

Not only does Wikipedia give these statistics, but they have a listing of each of the song titles credited to the leads. Check it out.

Wikipedia; "beatles lead singer list"

Answer 3

Hi--this is a great question, especially the comment about the 2 sounding so similar. When Beatlemania broke in 1964, most fans could not tell who was the lead vocalist, and the fact that their songs were credited to "Lennon-McCartney" didn't help either!

But as they matured, it became easier to tell them apart. Paul had many more lead vocals than John. In fact, after 1967, John did not have the "A" side of a hit single until "The Ballad of John & Yoko" in 1969, and that was his last lead on a Beatles' hit (unless you want to include "Come Together", which was the "B" side.)

Now, many would argue that John's songs were better, if fewer. I happen to be a big Paul fan, but love John too. The reason why Paul had so many more leads is that he became the driving creative force in the band during their last 3-4 years of existance, while John was exploring many things outside of music, partially due to his love affair (and the influence of) Yoko Ono.

Thanks for the chance to talk about my favorite band!!!

Answer 4

Can't really say, I think about equal.

Roughly (and I could be wrong), John and Paul wrote and sang about 70% of the songs that were released, while George wrote and sang about 25% and Ringo about 5%. Give or take on all of them.

I would have to line up every single song that was ever released and tally them in order to give you an accurate answer.

Answer 5

John! I can tell their voices apart easily. John is mainly the lead singer in the begining, but as they go on Paul sings more and more. However, overall I say that John sang more. I LOVE JOHN LENNON!!!

Answer 6

john sang a bit more than paul, be they pretty muched shared the vocals equally.

Answer 7

Paul
after beatles it was John

Answer 8

i think it wuz more paul as well...
i dont think john sang the really happy and upbeat songs