Sir Paul McCartney says his stage fright used to be so bad that he contemplated giving up his music career.

The singer told fans though a website Q&A that his performances in the early days of the Beatles were wracked with nerves.

When asked about the biggest fears in his life and how he overcame them, McCartney said:

"Biggest fears? When I was a kid it was just getting beaten up by a local gang. You know, that was a purely physical fear.

"Where I lived it was a hard estate and there were guys who if you saw them you would just go to the other side of the street. Because you knew they would just say, 'Hey you, who you lookin' at?'.

"And there was no right answer! 'You!' And they're coming at you! 'Not you!' And they're coming at you!"

Speaking about stage fright, the Liverpudlian added: "Performing, it was always the idea that the audience didn't like you and you had to prove yourself.

"I think that's why a lot of people get stage fright and get nervous. You think, 'Oh my god, I'm gonna be terrible, they hate me, and it's all terrible.'

"And so I think that was one of the earliest fears. I remember nearly giving it all up when we were doing a concert in Wembley - which was a Poll-Winners concert - in the really early days of The Beatles.

"And I remember feeling physically sick with a knot in my stomach thinking, 'I should give this up, this is just too painful, what am I doing?' I got over it. And as you can see I didn't give it up! So that's two different kinds of fears."

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Watch McCartney perform live below: