Paul McCartney opens about John Lennon's death on The Jonathan Ross Show: 'His killer is the jerk of jerks'

The iconic rocker said: "It was a very big shock. I was so sad that I was not going to see him again. And the guy who did it was the jerk of jerks. He was not politically motivated

As the 34th anniversary of John Lennon's death approaches on December 8, his former Beatles band mate Sir Paul McCartney has branded his murderer Mark David Chapman "the jerk of jerks".

The 72-year-old admitted the Beatles had an 'acrimonious' relationship at times but the death of one of his closest friends left him reeling.

"There was acrimony in The Beatles. But when he got killed we were friends. We used to call each other up and swap bread recipes," he revealed on The Jonathan Ross Show, airing on Saturday night on ITV.

"I was at home when he died. I got a phone call. It was so horrific. I could not take it in that he was gone. It was a very big shock. I was so sad that I was not going to see him again."

Blasting Chapman, he added: "And the guy who did it was the jerk of jerks. He was not politically motivated."

The musician also spoke of his wife Nancy Shevell, whom he married in 2011.

He said: "I met Nancy in a surf shop. I went in and rubbed sun cream on my face and then she told me she knew Linda [McCartney, Paul's first wife]. Nancy had cancer and had treatment in the same place as Linda.

"She said she liked me because I had not rubbed the cream in my face properly.

"She encouraged me to go back touring. She likes to get me out if the house."

McCartney was also critical of U2, who recently released their new album Songs of Innocence, for free via iTunes - which automatically downloaded the record to people's computers.

He said: "It was a heroic idea but people deleted it. Not such a good idea. I prefer to release records the old fashioned way."

The Jonathan Ross Show, Saturday, 10.35pm on ITV