Sir Paul McCartney has insisted there was too much "emotional pain" to carry on The Beatles without John Lennon.
The group went their separate ways in 1970 after the singer - who was shot dead in 1980 - decided to quit but his former bandmate insisted he, Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison never considered continuing as a three-piece because they felt so "fed up".
Speaking to Howard Stern on SiriusXM, Paul said: "It's like a family, when families break up it's to do with the emotion and the emotional pain, you can't think of a smart idea like that at the time, you're hurting too much, it wasn't going to happen.
"We'd been through too much and I think we were just fed up of the whole thing."
When the DJ discussed the songwriting partnership Paul and George could have enjoyed, the 77-year-old superstar admitted the 'My Sweet Lord' hitmaker's writing abilities had often been underestimated because he was a "late bloomer" when it came to penning lyrics.
Source: missoulian.com