Sir Paul McCartney has opened up on how robbers targeted him in a Liverpool street - after revealing his grandson was mugged at knifepoint.
The former Beatle said he had his watch stolen by "four guys" when he was a young man growing up in the city - before becoming one of the most famous men in the world.
And the painful memory was made all the more vivid by a recent incident involving one of his eight grandchildren, who he revealed had been mugged at knifepoint for his phone in London.
He recounted the two incidents while talking about knife crime in an interview with The Times.
Sir Paul, 77, told the paper: "One of my grandkids, one of my older grandkids, was mugged and got his phone taken.
"He was saying the worst thing was that he should have just thumped the guy, he came back and felt a coward.
"I said: 'No, no, no, no! The guy had a knife and you don't know, the guy might be able to use that knife.' So it is scary these days."
Speaking about his own brush with criminals many years before, Sir Paul said he was a similar age to that of his grandson now.
He said: "I just happened to be on my own, bigger kids came along and it was the same feeling.
"[I thought at the time] 'I have got to learn karate and be a black belt — and then I'll get 'em!' It was the worst thing."
