Someone named Lila writes to ask…
I see that Paul McCartney got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday. The article said that he was voted the honor in 1993 but finally got around to accepting. But the article also said that his fellow Beatles got theirs years earlier. John Lennon, for example, got his in 1988. I don't understand that. How could you honor Lennon and not honor McCartney at the same time?
The Hollywood Walk of Fame, while I'm sure it's a great honor to most recipients, is basically a promotional vehicle. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce wants celebrities to actually show up in person to accept them because that brings excitement and crowds and prestige to the area. They do a limited number of posthumous stars but if you're alive, they won't vote to give you one until you promise to be there for the unveiling ceremony. This is why David Letterman and Woody Allen (among others) have never been honored with stars while many lesser names have.
So the answer to your question is that Paul had never indicated a willingness to appear before 1993, whereas the other Beatles obviously had.
Someone has to submit you for consideration and there has to be some pledge from you that you'll appear. Then when they vote to give you one, you have five years to schedule your appearance…unless you're someone like Paul McCartney, in which case they'll rearrange the rules or vote an extension or whatever they did after Paul let the five years expire. The reason they give you five years is so you can work it into your busy schedule…but usually what it means is that you can arrange for the ceremony to coincide with the release of your new movie, the debut of your new TV show, etc. It is not a coincidence that Mr. McCartney has a new album being released at the moment.
That new album, by the way, is called Kisses on the Bottom, which is a line from the old song, "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter." Most of the album is old songs, including many by Frank Loesser. As my friend Shelly Goldstein reminded me, Sir Paul just happens to own Mr. Loesser's old music publishing company. So when those NBC stars were singing "Brotherhood of Man," the cash register was also ka-chinging at Paul's house, which is good. He probably needs the money. In fact, here's an Amazon link if you want to help the poor guy out by ordering the new CD or buying MP3s.