Sir Paul McCartney has defended his late wife Linda McCartney's singing abilities.

Sir Paul McCartney

Sir Paul McCartney

The American photographer - who tragically passed away in 1998 aged 56 after a battle with breast cancer - withstood a lot of criticism for her questionable vocals when she was part of her husband's post-Beatles band Wings, but he has dismissed the backlash.

Macca told The Guardian: "On things like the song 'I am Your Singer' - and, well, all of them - I really love Linda's voice.

"It's very distinctive and she sings well. I'm sort of listening for it being what the critics said - you know: 'Oh, she's not very good.'

"But her tone is great. The decision to have Linda in the band singing was a tough one, because she's never sung professionally."

The 'Hey Jude' hitmaker - who is married to his third wife Nancy Shevell - admitted that when he formed Wings in 1971, he knew that he would never be able to trump the phenomenal success of the Fab Four.

The legendary rocker - who had four children with his first wife, including fashion designer Stella McCartney - added: "But it was: whatever we do, we're not going to do what The Beatles did."

Linda - who was a passionate animal rights activist - once said she was unfazed by the criticism she received over her poor vocals because she initially had no intent of becoming a singer and valued her altruistic qualities over her musical skills.

She explained: "Does it really matter? If I wasn't married to Paul, it wouldn't matter. I think I'm the opposite of what most people think - basically a kind person. Some of the criticism I get may be jealousy."

Indeed, Sir Paul has now added that he had no regrets over Wings, and he's happy the band existed in the way it did.

He said: "Looking back on it, I'm really glad we did it."