Paul McCartney to play Isle of Wight festival

Sir Paul McCartney is to play a pair of festival dates this summer - including the Isle Of Wight - as part of a tour which takes in five shows in the UK and Ireland.

The gigs in June, part of his Up And Coming tour, also include his first ever UK stadium shows as a headliner.

The dates follow his spectacular show at the O2 Arena in December and the shows will straddle the former Beatles star's 68th birthday.

Sir Paul said: "It's always brilliant to play for the home crowd and these dates are ones that me and the band are really excited about."

The ex-Beatle has played only one UK festival before, when he played Glastonbury in 2005. There had been speculation that he was about to announce a series of shows which take him truly UK-wide in a way he has not toured for many years.

A performance at Hampden Park, Glasgow, marks not only his first stand-alone UK stadium show but also his first gig in Scotland for almost 20 years.

And a performance at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium will be his first Welsh show in 31 years. He last toured Wales with Wings in 1979.

His second festival date will be at the Hard Rock Calling event.

Sir Paul has appeared in London's Hyde Park twice before, with his performances at the Live 8 concert in 2005 and a surprise appearance on-stage with Neil Young, performing the Beatles classic A Day In The Life.

He opens his run of shows with an Irish date in Dublin at the RDS on June 12, then moves on to the Isle Of Wight Festival the following day.

His show at Hampden Park is on June 20, the Millennium Stadium is June 26 and Hyde Park Calling rounds off the shows on June 27.

The shows will draw on music from throughout his career including Beatles tracks, songs from his Wings days, and tracks from his solo years, as well as music from his 2008 album Electric Arguments, which he recorded under the name of The Fireman.