In 1968, Paul McCartney, with contributions from John Lennon, wrote the song "Hey Jude." For whom did McCartney write this song?

In 1968, John Lennon and his wife, Cynthia, were going through a really difficult marital issue due to John's relationship with Yoko Ono.

Their son, Julian was taking the brunt of the marital discord. Paul McCartney, while on his way to visit with Cynthia and Julian, wrote a song and named it "Hey Jules", to try to get Julian's spirits up. He collaborated with John Lennon and changed the name of the song to "Hey Jude."

McCartney is quoted as having said... "I knew it was not going to be easy for him", and that he changed the name to "Jude","...because I thought that sounded a bit better".

Released in August 1968, "Hey Jude" was the first single from the Beatles' record label Apple Records. More than seven minutes in length, it was at the time the longest single ever to top the British charts.