paul mccartney has done very little of note since leaving the beatles, and would not be the legend he is based only on his solo work. but yea, he was in the beatles.
if it's straight billy joel vs. paul mccartney's solo work, joel wins by a hefty margin. don't know how it is in europe... but in america joel's career shatters that of mccartney's solo career. but yea, if you include the beatles work... yea.. mccartney wins because, well, they're the beatles.
he's also the only artist to sell out every major sports venue in the new york metropolitan area... yankee stadium, shea stadium, giants stadium, madison square garden, continental airlines arena and the nassau coliseum... not that that would be surprising as he's considered a god in new york, but yea.
oh, and he looks nothing like paul mccartney... he does, however, look like bruce willis' fat father.