McCartney `drifted apart` from Jackson over Beatles` hits

London: Music legend Paul McCartney`s friendship with Michael Jackson reportedly soured when the `King of Pop` bought the Beatles songs and refused to sell them back to him. The duo became close friends in the early 1980s when they recorded two duets -- `The Girl Is Mine` and `Say Say Say`. But McCartney says that they "drifted apart" after Jackson acquired the rights of Beatles` songs and refused to offer them to him, Contactmusic reported.

"You know, he came to my house and we got to know the family and stuff. We had a really good time. We made a couple of records together, did a video and were very good friends," McCartney was quoted telling to US talkshow host David Letterman. But when Jackson outbid McCartney for the Beatles catalogue in 1985, their relationship crumbled. "He kept saying, `That`s just business, Paul, you know,` so I went, `Yeah, it is,` and waited for a reply. But we never kind of got to it and I thought, `Mmmmm`, so we kind of drifted apart. It was no big bust-up. We kind of drifted apart after that. But he was a lovely man, massively talented and we miss him," McCartney added. Bureau Report