Break-up of the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active from 1960 until 1970. From 1962 onwards, the band's members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Their break-up is attributed to numerous factors, including: the strain of the Beatlemania phenomenon, the 1967 death of manager Brian Epstein, bandmates' resentment of McCartney's perceived domineering, Lennon's heroin use and his relationship with Yoko Ono, Harrison's increasingly prolific songwriting, the floundering of Apple Corps, the Get Back project (renamed Let It Be in 1970), and managerial disputes.
During the latter half of the 1960s, the members began to assert individual artistic agendas. Their disunity became most evident on 1968's The Beatles (also known as "the White Album"), and quarrels and disharmony over musical matters soon permeated their business discussions. Starr left the group for two weeks during the White Album sessions, and Harrison quit for five days during the Get Back rehearsals. Starting in 1969, the group quarreled regarding who should handle their business affairs. McCartney lobbied for entertainment lawyers Lee and John Eastman, but was outvoted by his bandmates in favour of businessman Allen Klein.
The final time that the four members recorded together was the session for Abbey Road's "The End" on 20 August 1969, a date which also saw further mixing and editing for "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"; their final meeting with all four present was two days later at a photo session held at Lennon's Tittenhurst estate. On 20 September, Lennon privately informed his bandmates at a meeting at Apple, without Harrison present, that he was leaving the Beatles, although it was unclear to the other members whether his departure was permanent. On 10 April 1970, McCartney said in a press release that he was no longer working with the group, which sparked a widespread media reaction and worsened the tensions between him and his bandmates. Legal disputes continued long after his announcement, and the dissolution was not formalised until 29 December 1974.
Rumours of a full-fledged reunion persisted throughout the 1970s, as the members occasionally reunited for collaboration, but never with all four simultaneously. Starr's "I'm the Greatest" (1973) and Harrison's "All Those Years Ago" (1981) are the only tracks that feature three ex-Beatles. After Lennon's murder in 1980, the surviving members reunited for the Anthology project in 1994, using the unfinished Lennon demos "Free as a Bird", "Real Love", and "Now and Then" as the basis for new songs recorded and released as the Beatles, though the latter remained unreleased until 2023.
Background[edit]
By late 1965, the Beatles had grown weary of live performance.[1] George Harrison was the first to tire of Beatlemania, while Paul McCartney supported the idea of maintaining regular touring schedules and live shows. McCartney finally ceded to his bandmates' insistence that the group stop touring towards the end of their August 1966 tour of the United States.[2] Afterwards, Harrison informed manager Brian Epstein that he was leaving the band, but was persuaded to stay on the assurance that there would be no more tours.[3]
When the group convened to record Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in November 1966, there was still a camaraderie and desire to collaborate as musicians; however, their individual differences were becoming more apparent. To a greater extent than the others, McCartney maintained a deep interest in the pop musical trends and styles emerging both in the United Kingdom and the United States, whereas Harrison developed an interest in Indian music and religion, and John Lennon's compositions became more introspective and experimental.[4][5] In Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn's opinion, Sgt. Pepper represented the group's last unified effort, displaying a cohesion that deteriorated immediately after the album's completion and entirely disappeared by 1968.[6]
Epstein's management style was to let the group pursue their musical notions and projects, while often mediating when there was a conflict. This role began to diminish after the band stopped touring in 1966, although Epstein still exercised a strong influence over the band's interpersonal relations and finances. In mid-1967, Apple Corps was initiated under Epstein's oversight as a tax shelter endeavour. However, on 27 August, he died of a medical drug overdose; the consequences of his absence, combined with the Beatles' inexperience as businessmen, led to an unexpectedly chaotic venture that added stress for the band during the coming months.[4]
Epstein's death left the Beatles disorientated and fearful about the future.[7] McCartney sought to initiate projects for the group, although his bandmates grew perturbed by his growing domination in musical as well as other group ventures.[8] Lennon later reflected that McCartney's efforts were important for the survival of the band, but he still believed that McCartney's desire to help came from his own misgivings about pursuing a solo career.[9] McCartney felt that the four members' evolution from musicians to businessmen was central to the band's disintegration.[10] Epstein's role as band manager was never replaced, and ultimately the lack of strong managerial leadership contributed significantly to the break-up.[11]
Another factor in the split was Harrison's growth as a composer during the second half of their career.[12] Many of his song ideas were rejected by Lennon and McCartney, especially from 1968 onwards.[13][nb 1] Although this was partly indicative of the increased competition for space on album sides, with three songwriters in the band, Harrison's frustration fostered in him a sense of alienation from the Beatles.[16] He later reflected that at first he was content to make occasional contributions as a composer, and he only came to resent Lennon and McCartney's domination when he offered songs "that were better than some of theirs and we'd have to record maybe eight of theirs before they'd listen to mine".[17] Harrison became the first member of the group to release a solo album, with Wonderwall Music,[18] much of which was recorded in Bombay in January 1968.[19]
Announcement[edit]
Release of McCartney and Let It Be[edit]
Having long attempted to maintain cohesiveness within the Beatles, McCartney secluded himself with his new family at his Scottish farm, distraught at Lennon's departure.[73] After being tracked down by reporters from Life magazine in late October 1969 to quell rumors that he had died, McCartney said that "the Beatle thing is over", although the full meaning of this remark was ignored.[74][75] Effectively estranged from his bandmates and deeply depressed,[76] McCartney had begun making a series of home recordings in London during December. Operating under strict secrecy, he privately agreed on a release date for this proposed solo album, titled McCartney, with Apple Records executive Neil Aspinall.[77]
High Court suit and public sparring[edit]
McCartney's wish to dissolve the partnership was problematic, since it would expose them all to enormous tax liability, and his pleas to be released from Apple were ignored by Lennon, Harrison and Starr.[120] McCartney said he struggled all through the summer of 1970 with the idea of having to sue his bandmates in order to be free of Apple and Klein. Anticipating the suit, Klein suggested that the other Beatles invite McCartney to a recording session in October where Lennon and Harrison were due to work on Starr's song "Early 1970". Klein reasoned that if McCartney attended, it would show that the Beatles' musical partnership was still active and undermine McCartney's case. McCartney did not accept the invitation.[121] In December, Harrison and McCartney met in New York to discuss their differences but the meeting went badly.[122] The press nevertheless interpreted the meeting as a truce between the two parties and, since Lennon was also in New York that month, reports insisted that the Beatles would soon re-form.[123]
On 31 December, McCartney filed a lawsuit against the other three Beatles in London's High Court of Justice for dissolution of the band's contractual partnership.[124] For Beatles fans, news of McCartney's legal action and the publication of Lennon's two-part "Lennon Remembers" interview in Rolling Stone increased the distasteful atmosphere surrounding the group's demise.[125][nb 6] Time magazine dubbed the confrontation "Beatledämmerung", in reference to Wagner's opera about a war among the gods.[128] By contrast, according to Guardian journalist Kitty Empire, writing in 2011, Harrison's All Things Must Pass triple album "functioned as a kind of repository for grief" for the band's fans.[129] In Doggett's description, the Beatles-related songs on Harrison's album "offered a teasing glimpse into an intimate world that had previously been off-limits to the public", and they introduced a self-referential trait in the ex-Beatles' songwriting that, for fans and the press, came to represent episodes in a public soap opera.[130]
The case opened in the Chancery Division of the High Court on 19 January 1971.[131] McCartney's counsel, David Hirst, told the court that the Beatles' finances were in a "grave state" and outlined the three reasons behind McCartney's claim for dissolution: the group had long ceased working together; in appointing Klein as the band's exclusive business manager, the other Beatles had acted in breach of the partnership deed; and throughout the four years of its existence, McCartney had yet to receive audited accounts of the partnership.[131] On 18 February, the day before proceedings began, the press announced three further reasons: Klein's attempt to postpone the release of McCartney; Klein and ABKCO's altering of "The Long and Winding Road" without first consulting McCartney; and ABKCO's transferral of the Let It Be film rights from Apple to United Artists without McCartney's approval.[132]
During the subsequent proceedings, McCartney's legal team focused on portraying Klein as a disreputable businessman,[133] and McCartney took the stand to state the case that the Beatles had long ceased to be a functioning band and their differences were irreconcilable.[134] The court heard affidavits from Lennon, Harrison and Starr in which they stated their past difficulties of working with McCartney but said that these had largely been surmounted and there was no reason that the band could not continue.[135] On 12 March, High Court judge Blanshard Stamp found in McCartney's favour and a receiver was appointed.[136][137]
McCartney released his second album, Ram, in May. It included a riposte to "Lennon Remembers" with the song "Too Many People", in which, he told Playboy in 1984, he addressed Lennon's "preaching".[138] Lennon detected other examples of McCartney attacking him within the album's lyrics[139] and responded with the song "How Do You Sleep?"[140][141] Harrison and Starr (the latter a non-participant) joined Lennon for the recording of "How Do You Sleep?", which was released on Lennon's Imagine album in September.[142] Lennon and McCartney continued their public feud through the letters page of Melody Maker,[143] with some of Lennon's correspondence requiring censorship by the magazine's editor.[144] McCartney later wrote "Dear Friend", a truce offering to Lennon, and included it on the album Wild Life with his band, Wings, in December.[145]
Legal dissolution[edit]
The subsequent negotiations were lengthy as McCartney continued to demand his freedom from the Beatles and Apple, yet his own advisors were now giving him the same warnings regarding the potential tax liability as Klein had identified.[146] The other Beatles soon came to doubt Klein's ability to negotiate a successful settlement with McCartney, given the pair's ongoing antipathy;[147] they were also disillusioned with Klein for his mismanagement of Harrison's Bangladesh aid project,[148] and Lennon felt betrayed by Klein's lack of support for his and Ono's increasingly political music.[149][150] Lennon, Harrison and Starr formally severed their ties with Klein in March 1973, initiating a wave of lawsuits in London and New York.[151] In November, they sued Klein for misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty.[152] Klein then countersued Apple for $19 million in unpaid fees.[153] The cases were settled out of court in January 1977 with Apple paying Klein $5,009,200, equivalent to approximately £2.9 million at the time.[154] Klein credited the "tireless efforts and Kissinger-like negotiating brilliance of Yoko Ono Lennon" in achieving a settlement to his satisfaction.[154]
With Klein no longer managing Apple, the four former bandmates were able to work cooperatively towards a settlement. This document, known as "The Beatles Agreement",[155] was signed by the four in December 1974.[156] Photographer Bob Gruen recalled Lennon's bemusement at the length and intricacy of the settlement document, saying: "He told me that the original agreement between Klein and the Beatles had been two or three paragraphs on a single piece of paper. Now it was going to take an eighty-seven-page document to dissolve."[157] The formal dissolution of the partnership took place in London on 9 January 1975.[157][158]
A wave of Beatles nostalgia and persistent reunion rumours in the US during the 1970s led several entrepreneurs to make public offers to the Beatles for a reunion concert.
Lennon's murder and Anthology[edit]
After Lennon's murder in 1980, Harrison tailored the lyrics to his song "All Those Years Ago" to serve as a personal tribute to Lennon. The song was originally offered to Starr, who played drums on the basic track, which was recorded prior to Lennon's death. McCartney (along with his Wings bandmates Linda McCartney and Denny Laine) overdubbed backing vocals.[183]
In 1994 and 1995, the remaining three reunited for the Anthology project, using the unfinished Lennon demos "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" as a basis for new songs recorded and released as the Beatles. Also attempted were "Grow Old with Me" and "Now and Then", by Lennon, and the McCartney/Harrison collaboration "All for Love".[184] These sessions were marked by tension, particularly between Harrison and McCartney. At the time, Harrison wryly commented that he felt the sessions were "just like being back in the Beatles", while McCartney later said: "George had some business problems and it didn't do a lot for his moods over the last couple of years. He's not been that easy to get on with.”[185]
More than 20 years after Harrison's death in 2001, "Now and Then" was completed by McCartney and Starr, and was released as a new Beatles single in 2023.[186]
Songs by Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr that reference or are inspired by the break-up: