Vinyl Artwork Rejected by Paul McCartney for Being 'Too Unflattering' to Be Auctioned Off for Charity

London artist Wilfrid Wood is auctioning off a sculpture of Paul McCartney that was rejected by the former Beatle for being "too unflattering."

The piece was originally made as cover art for the humanitarian organization War Child's Secret 7" series, which takes seven tracks from seven musicians, presses each one 100 times onto 7-inch vinyl with unique artwork, and then auctions them off for charity.

Although McCartney is participating in the project this year with a "Pipes of Peace" 7-inch, he apparently vetoed Wood's cover art submission — which is, to be fair, a pretty unflattering depiction.

Nevertheless, Wood has decided to auction off the sculpture anyway, and he's donating the proceeds to War Child.

"Charity auction! I’m a regular contributor to @secret7s where artists create one off covers for various 7" singles which are then auctioned for charity. This year I sculpted Paul McCartney but my contribution was BANNED by Macca and the gang because it was TOO UNFLATTERING," Wood explained in a post on Instagram.

"So I'm auctioning it myself on eBay with ALL proceeds going to @warchilduk, a charity for children affected by conflict in Gaza, Ukraine and other war zones globally ... The relief sculpture is 18.5 x 18.5cm and is made of painted polymer clay.

"If they'd left it alone it would have been lost in the 700-odd Secret 7" sleeves," Wood added. "But now they've banned it, it's getting all this extra attention!"

The auction launched last week, but it's still running until 5:00 ET on Thursday, March 27. You can put in a bid here. At press time, 40 bids have been put in and the bidding is up to £829.

After raising over £500,000 for charity between 2012 and 2020, the Secret 7" series was relaunched by War Child in 2023. Artists including Yoko Ono, Ai Weiwei, Sir Peter Blake, David Shrigley, Jake and Dinos Chapman, and Martin Parr have previously contributed designs to the project.

This year's participating musicians with 7-inches up for auction are McCartney, Aurora, Celeste, the Chemical Brothers (featuring Beck), Hozier, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the Specials.

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McCartney recently paid tribute to the Who's Roger Daltrey for his work with the Teenage Cancer Trust, and he is set to perform in an all-star tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett at the Hollywood Bowl on April 11.

In other McCartney news, it was confirmed that the legend will make a cameo appearance in the long-awaited This Is Spinal Tap 2 mockumentary sequel, and he will be the subject of one of four different Beatles biopics — one each for John, Paul, George, and Ringo — helmed by Oscar Award-winning director Sam Mendes.

McCartney and Wings' 1973 opus Band on the Run also reentered the Billboard charts in the wake of a 50th anniversary reissue last month.