John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet in New York City

Paul and Linda McCartney paid a visit to John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New York City on 14 December 1975.

The McCartneys were in America with their children for their annual trip to the Eastmans over Christmas. They flew to Los Angeles in early December, paying a visit to Mal Evans, and traveling on to New York around 10 December.

Another visitor to the Lennons at the Dakota Building on 13 December was photographer Bob Gruen. The three were watching TV when the doorbell rang. The McCartneys had been waived through by security, and when Gruen approached the front door to answer, he

I was at the Dakota one night in December when Linda and Paul McCartney came to visit. We were just sitting around, watching TV and smoking when the apartment doorbell rang. In the Dakota, such an everyday occurrence as an unexpected visitor simply doesn’t happen. One of the reasons the Lennons had chosen to live in the famous building was because it had tight security, including guards at the sidewalk and in the reception area. You had to be announced at the front desk and wait behind two sets of locked doors while the apartment you were visiting was called for permission to let you in.

Understandably, John was a bit paranoid when he heard his doorbell. Only John, Yoko, Sean, and myself were in the apartment, so John asked if I would answer the door and try to keep the visitor from coming inside.

The Lennons’ apartment had a small foyer between two doors. When I opened the inner door, I heard what sounded like Christmas carols. ‘Don’t worry,’ I yelled back to John and Yoko. ‘It’s just some kids caroling. When I opened the outer door, I saw it was actually Paul and Linda. They’d been singing ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’. I was really surprised and said, ‘I think you’re looking for the guys in the bedroom.’

As they came in, everyone was really happy to see each other. John and Yoko jumped up when Paul and Linda walked into the bedroom. They were obviously excited to see each other again. There was a lot of hugging and catching up, and we had a round of tea. I stuck around, but didn’t take any pictures. Of course, I do wish I had taken a few shots, it was such a unique evening. But it didn’t seem the right thing to do, as I felt that would be too intrusive. I was there as a guest, a friend, not a photographer on assignment.