15 Years Ago: The Beatles' 'Love' Premieres in Las Vegas

The original concept of Love, a spectacular theatrical production featuring the reimagined music of the Beatles, came from George Harrison a year before his death in 2001.

At a fete for the Montreal Grand Prix in 2000, Harrison had met Guy Laliberte, a Canadian businessman who shared his love of Formula One racing and also happened to be the cofounder of the contemporary circus company Cirque du Soleil. When Laliberte came to visit Harrison at his English estate Friar Park the next fall, Harrison politely proposed the idea for Love.

"We sat in the garden," Laliberte recalled in the program notes of the show, "and George said, 'Do you think there's anything that you could do with the Beatles' music?' I said that it would have to be a project that we did with the Beatles, and he said, 'I believe it's time for that now.'"

Five years after Harrison's death, his idea would be become a reality. After several years of discussions among the remaining Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Harrison's widow, Olivia, John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, MGM's Mirage and the Beatles' holding company Apple Corps, Love premiered in June 2006 at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

Source: ultimateclassicrock.com

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