Behind the photo: Paul & Linda McCartney enjoy a concert and a joint with David Gilmour

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This wonderful photo of Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour has circulated the internet and is usually attibuted to a Led Zeppelin show. The truth is this photo was taken at UK’s Knebworth Fair in 1976 which was headlined by The Rolling Stones. The main clue is the description with the below Corbis photo that appears to be taken around the same time and was uncovered by a Pink Floyd message board:

Former Beatle Paul McCartney and wife, Linda, were among the 250,000 crowd that witnesses the entertainment of the Rolling Stones on the grounds of Knebworth House late 8/21. It was after midnight when the Rolling Stones finally left the stage in a British version of Woodstock – an open-air concert for the quarter of a million fans. They played until the wee hours and the crowd was still dispersing at dawn.

There is also this photo of Paul and David backstage at the festival.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Todd Rundgren and Hot Tuna also performed at the show. Queen was originally supposed to headline, but got bumped when the might Stones offered to play. David Gilmour and Pink Floyd had headlined the festival the year before.

Here’s what the stage looked like, to give you an idea of what Paul, Linda and David were seeing in that moment (via):

See more in the Behind The Photo series

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