Gwyneth Paltrow, who has been a close friend of McCartney’s since they met in 1999, remembers being shocked at her wildness. “I’ve actually never seen someone go from such a free spirit to such a kind of beautifully conventional, hard-working life as a wife and mother,” she told me. “She was in full fun mode when I met her, and I just fell in love with her. She was shockingly honest. I always say there’s this kind of hidden ghetto side to Stella. She’s tough. She doesn’t back down from someone who might have less to lose than her.”
- Cathy Horyn for the New York Times