Beatles News

64 years ago today, John Lennon wed Cynthia Powell in a small ceremony at the register office in Liverpool. With The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein as his best man and bandmates Paul McCartney and George Harrison present, the couple began what would be a short-lived marriage. But first, The Beatles had a show to play.

For Lennon, not even his own wedding stopped him from performing with The Beatles at the Riverpark Ballroom in Chester. The band played at the ballroom four Thursdays in the summer of 1962, with Ringo Starr joining the group for the first time only two days after they played their first gig there.

As the band began to soar into their newfound stardom, precautions had to be put in place for Lennon and his new wife to have a honeymoon. Their manager, Epstein, joined the couple for a belated honeymoon in Paris weeks after the ballroom shows, ensuring that the wedding news was kept private. But they couldn't hide the news for long — Cynthia was pregnant.

She gave birth to their son, John Charles Julian Lennon, on April 8, 1963, in Liverpool. According to People, Lennon was on tour at the time and wasn't able to see his wife and newborn son until three days later.

In 2011, Lennon's details

A new biography about the six-frame photoshoot for the Beatles’ final recorded studio album asserts that Paul McCartney insisted the Fab Four use the zebra-stripe crosswalk and move single file while crossing Abbey Road.

“The photographer, Iain Macmillan, came to the shoot with a series of wild designs and playful sketches to promote the band’s bubbly, carefree image. One sketch had the band up in a tree. Another had them jaywalking on their hands. Another had all four seated in lotus position, blocking traffic,” said the biographer, Derry Anderson, whose book “Come Together: The Story of the ‘Abbey Road’ Photoshoot” drops later this month. “Paul shut it all down. He said he wanted the band ‘all walking, all in sync, and we’re using the fucking crosswalk!’ Apparently, it was like pulling teeth to get him to hold the cigarette.”

At first, McCartney claimed not to remember that sunny August morning in 1969, but eventually broke down and confessed to having wanted even more restrictions on the band.

“I had us holding hands and looking both ways, yeah? The album was going to be called ‘Safety First.’ I had John an details

THE BEATLES’ brotherhood is to be brought to life in four blockbuster movies – just as series star Barry Keoghan battles real-life ructions with his own sibling.

Barry will play drummer Ringo Starr in The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event, directed by Sam Mendes.

It will see movies from each of the Fab Four’s perspectives drop simultaneously in April 2028. But off screen, I can reveal the relationship between Irishman Barry and brother Eric has soured.

I’m told Eric previously acted as Barry’s assistant on set and would often accompany him to filming. But now, word is that Eric is no longer welcome and has been absent from filming in recent weeks.

A source said: “Eric is back in Ireland and is not living with Barry at the house he is renting near London.

“Barry is in the honeymoon phase with his new girlfriend, Danica Hall, and she is not Eric’s biggest fan. Barry decided it was best that Eric didn’t stay with him and he has not been seen at filming.

“Eric didn’t always bring out the best in Barry so it is probably better that the brothers are not in each other’s pocket.”

The films a details

The Beatles’ timing in starting Apple Records wasn’t the best. Right about the time it was revving up, their own inner drama was demanding much more of their attention. Still, the short-lived label produced some outstanding records.

Members of the Fab Four did indeed help out with these artists on occasion. For example, here are four songs that they wrote that were recorded by Apple acts.  Paul McCartney’s track record of writing and recording hit singles with The Beatles earned him a lot of credibility from Apple acts. In the case of “Come And Get It”, he essentially demanded respect from Badfinger. He wrote the song and then made a full demo of it for the group. He then told them to make the recording of the song sound as close as possible to his demo. Otherwise, he wouldn’t allow them to have the song. Members of Badfinger initially fought against this insistence. But they eventually decided to relent to Macca’s wishes. That turned out to be a smart move. Their recording of the song, faithful to the demo, turned into their first major hit in 1970.

“Goodbye” by Mary Hopkin

A good chunk of time passed between “Those Were The Days&rdqu details

There’s a lot to cover in the life of The Beatles. Which is astounding, given they were together for such a short period of time, comparatively speaking. Many people have tried to tell this band’s story in narrative form. Inevitably, there is always something glossed over or left out for time’s sake. The highly anticipated upcoming films about the Fab Four need to devote serious time to the three songs below. These songs helped shape the band in consequential ways. Without these staples, The Beatles wouldn’t have become what we know them as today.

“Yesterday”

“Yesterday” did a lot for The Beatles. It expanded their demographic, proving they could be more than just pop sensations. The subject matter and song structure were far more sophisticated than their previous material. But more than that, “Yesterday” also opened the door to individualism for The Beatles, a development that would eventually become a thorn in their side.

Paul McCartney took on this song solo. This would develop into a trend, eventually separating him from John Lennon until the divide was too great to bear. There’s an alternative reality where songs like this never made details

Ringo Starr quit The Beatles on August 22, 1968, during the tense recording of the White Album.

Starr recalled telling John Lennon, “I’m leaving the group because I’m not playing well and I feel unloved and out of it.” That account comes from Anthology.  Lennon replied, “I thought it was you three!”

Starr reportedly spent two weeks on Peter Sellers’ yacht in the Mediterranean before returning.

Lennon sent him a telegram that read, “You’re the best rock’n’roll drummer in the world. Come on home, we love you.”

Despite the brief split, Billboard has since ranked The Beatles the best rock band of all time.

Arrival and Press Conference of the British Rock and Roll Band The Beatles.Universal History Archive / Getty Images
Inside Ringo Starr’s Brief Departure From The Beatles

Tensions had been building for weeks during the White Album sessions. Starr’s departure came as the band was working on “Back in the USSR.”

The remaining three Beatles recorded the song without him. Paul McCartney played drums on the track, with George Harrison on guitar and Lennon on bass. Starr&rs details

Thanks to John Lennon, the Beatles played their final Cincinnati concert 60 years ago at Crosley Field on Aug. 21, 1966.

When their concert was rained out the night before — Saturday, Aug. 20 — Lennon was the one who agreed to stay overnight here and perform Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. despite having a Sunday evening concert in St. Louis, DJ Jim LaBarbara said.

LaBarbara was one of seven people I interviewed in 2016 as part of a two-hour 50th anniversary special of the Beatles concert for Cincinnati Public Radio. Here’s the link to both hours, which has interviews interspersed with the songs played that day.
image of a ticket stub

A box seat ticket to see the Beatles cost $5.5.0 in 1966.

LaBarbara credits former WSAI-DJ Steve Kirk, who was one of the five Cincinnati DJs to bring the Beatles to Cincinnati Gardens in 1964, with convincing Lennon to reschedule the show for Sunday.

“John liked Kirkie. He had met him in '64 ... and he remembered how nicely he and the group at the radio station treated the Beatles in '64. So he said, 'We'll stay over and we'll do the show on Sunday. We'll go on at 11 or noon.' And Kirk said, 'Make it 1 o'clock because the kids go to details

It's been 45 years since John Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York City apartment, but Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney still checks in on his widow, Yoko Ono, a source tells Closer.

"It's no secret Paul and Yoko weren't fans of each other all those years ago, but they have a great understanding of each other these days and a genuine friendship," reveals the source. "Growing older has mellowed them both and time has healed a lot of the wounds."

McCartney, 84, opened up about his reconciliation with Ono, 93, to Rolling Stone in 2013. "I thought, 'If John loved her, there's got to be something. He's not stupid,'" he recalled. "It's like, what are you going to do? Are you going to hold a grudge you never really had?"

"Paul has also gone out of his way to defend Yoko in recent years and that's been very appreciated by her," adds the source. "They have both suffered a lot of loss over the years and they are able to give each some comfort, sharing old memories and stories and reminiscing about the times they shared with John."

McCartney famously fell out with Lennon when the Beatles broke up in 1970, but the pair were able to patch things up in the years prior to the "Imagine" singer's murder details

Sir Paul McCartney, 84, has lived a life that's full of music, from listening to his father James play dancehall songs on the piano as a child, to joining a skiffle group with John Lennon as a teenager, to becoming the biggest band of all time with The Beatles. Then, he forged a solo career as a member of Wings and under his own name that has yielded more number-one hits than any other songwriter.

McCartney's music has been a cornerstone of pop culture for over 60 years, but what are the songs that formed his musical taste? Paul recently revealed the ten songs that have "soundtracked my life" to the BBC's Vernon Kay on his show Tracks Of My Years, which premieres on May 25 on BBC Sounds and iPlayer.

The full episode has since aired, revealing the stories behind each of Paul's 10 song choices.

Paul McCartney reveals 10 songs that soundtracked his life:

10. John Lennon – "Imagine"
09. The Beach Boys – "God Only Knows"
08. Bob Dylan – "Tambourine Man"
07. Prince – "Kiss"
06. The Human League – "Don't You Want Me"
05. The Kinks – "You Really Got Me"
04. Elvis -… pic.twitter.com/rUQyERDQnA

Counting down his top 10 p details

The Beatles reshaped the course of popular music during their iconic run together. Decades after their split, they remain one of the most celebrated bands in history.

Billboard ranked The Beatles No. 1 on its list of the 50 greatest rock bands of all time. The Rolling Stones came in at No. 2, followed by Led Zeppelin at No. 3.

The publication credited the Fab Four’s seven-year run. That stretch produced 20 Hot 100 No. 1 hits and 12 classic albums. According to Billboard, rock as we know it may not exist without the band’s influence.

On August 20, 1969, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr gathered in a recording studio for the last time. They met inside EMI Studios at 3 Abbey Road in London. No new music was actually recorded that day.

According to Ultimate Classic Rock, the band spent the day’s first part mixing “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).” The session lasted three and a half hours. The details came from Mark Lewisohn’s official Abbey Road session notes. Lennon reportedly wanted the song to end abruptly rather than fade out.

The edit was made in a silent pause, right after the lyric “She’s so…&rdq details

Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney singing in the Cavern Club. 

There are a bunch of paparazzi photos circulating the internet of the four actors playing The Beatles in Sam Mendes' The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, which is still quite a way away from hitting movie screens in 2028. The movies have been filming for a few months now (and are expected to be filming for quite a few more), and recently the faux Fab Four–Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr were snapped by photogs while filming the iconic Abbey Road cover photoshoot. The internet's response to how they look has been harsh.

Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, singing into a microphone with long hair and glasses. 'They Look Absolutely Ridiculous'

The cover of Abbey Road is one of the most iconic album covers of all time, so of course it had to be a part of the movie. In the photo, the four Beatles are crossing the street at a zebra crossing. Lennon is leading the way with a bushy beard and wearing a white suit; Starr follows him in a black suit. Then comes McCartney in a grey suit and no shoes, and trailing behind is Harrison in al details

A 1969 song by The Beatles never reached No. 1 or even charted as a single when it was first released, but it has now been recognized among the greatest classic rock songs that never topped the charts.

In a July 15, 2026 ranking, Collider placed "Here Comes the Sun" at No. 2 on its list of "The 10 Greatest Classic Rock Songs That Were Never No. 1 Hits, Ranked." The song was written and sung by George Harrison and appeared on The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road.

The reason behind its unusual chart history is simple. During its original release period, "Here Comes the Sun" was intended as an album track rather than a single. Because The Beatles did not release "Here Comes the Sun" as a single in 1969, it did not have the opportunity to compete for a position on the singles chart at the time, per Collider.

However, that did not stop it from becoming one of the best-known songs in The Beatles' catalog. Collider's ranking puts the Harrison composition ahead of many other famous rock songs that also missed the top spot.

"Here Comes the Sun" came during a difficult period for Harrison and The Beatles.

Source: yahoo.com/Madz Dizon

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Ringo Starr showed off his eye-catching long locks as he enjoyed dinner with his Bond Girl wife Barbara Bach in Malibu on Tuesday.

The Beatles icon, 86, was worlds away from his look as a member of the iconic boyband as he headed to Tra di No with his wife of 45 years and a group of friends.

The outing came 64 years to the day after Ringo became a member of The Beatles, with himself, John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney forming the famous foursome, that would go on to be one of the most iconic bands of all time.

Barbara, 79, a former Bond Girl who starred in The Spy Who Loved Me, was arm-in-arm with her husband as she arrived at the restaurant dressed in a cream jacket and purple trousers.

The couple married in 1981 after meeting on the set of Caveman the year before, and divide their time between homes in London, Los Angeles and Monte Carlo.

Barbara had already found fame as KGB agent Anya Amasova – not too subtly referred to as Agent Triple X – in the tenth James Bond movie which centred on a plan by a megalomaniac to destroy the world and create a new one under the sea.

Source: dailymail.com/Laura Fox

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During the Beatles’ early hit-making years, John Lennon and Paul McCartney took most of the plaudits for their songwriting. George Harrison was slower to find his voice as a writer, and when he wrote his first solo composition for the Beatles, he was sick in bed. Even then, he wasn’t convinced what he had written could even be considered a song.

By the time the Beatles landed in Bournemouth, on England’s south coast, for a six-show residency at the Gaumont in August 1963, their debut album, Please Please Me, was already fueling the first ripples of Beatlemania. Harrison had come away from those sessions without a songwriting credit, despite handling lead vocals on “Chains” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret.”

Harrison had already co-written songs with fellow Beatles, including “In Spite of All the Danger” with Paul McCartney and “Cry for a Shadow” with John Lennon, but “Don’t Bother Me” was different. This was his first Beatles song written entirely by himself.

George Harrison of English rock and pop group The Beatles plays his 1963 Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar on stage during rehearsals for the ABC Television music televisi details

Anna Sawai fumbled her first audition. She was 11, living in Tokyo after her family bounced from New Zealand to Hong Kong to the Philippines. Her mother, Kaoru, found a listing for a stage production of Annie in Tokyo just one month after they arrived. She bombed. But she filled the next year with dance and singing lessons, working tirelessly with her mother. And she nailed her second audition, going on to play the title role in a live Nippon Television broadcast. "It was my first experience where I learned, if you want something, you really have to put your head in the game. You have to go straight through and commit to it," Sawai, 34, tells me during a video call from her home in Tokyo.

Hard work never scared Sawai. Her early roles demanded a lot from her. In 2009, she joined her first Hollywood production, James McTeigue's Ninja Assassin, as a ninja, a physically strenuous role. She knew at the time that she wanted to pursue acting, but her team, which she says was better positioned in the music industry, had other plans. She fell into the J-pop world, joining a buzzy girl group called Faky, which prevented her from acting until her contract was lifted. Nearly a decade later, in 2018, she finally left the group and l details