Beatles News

In 1963, Beatlemania began in the United Kingdom, soon spreading across the globe, especially in North America. Since the Beatles first came to the world stage, no band has ever repeated their dominance or captured the time so well. However, many Beatles conspiracy theories have grown in the 60 years since that era. A recent online post delves into fans' ideas on deeper truths. Here are some suspicious takeaways.

1. “Two of Us” Was About John

The first thread concerns the song “Two of Us,” which appears on the Let it Be movie soundtrack and album of the same name. “Paul just insists this is about him and Linda, but the lyrics are about him and John,” says one observer. “I think Macca was getting nostalgic as the band started to crumble into dust.”

Source: Ben Rice/wealthofgeeks.com

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The concert was scheduled to end at midnight. But the 15,000 people crowded into Crisler Arena were content to hang around.

John Lennon was worth the wait.

The former Beatle and his wife, the artist Yoko Ono, were giving their first U.S. performance in two years in support of John Sinclair, a radical poet imprisoned for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. Sinclair, a graduate of UM-Flint and founder of the White Panther Party, was 29 months into a sentence of up to 10 years. His incarceration made him a cause célèbre for those who viewed Sinclair as a political prisoner and victim of oppressive drug laws.

“I won’t be bringing a band or nothing like that because I’m only here as a tourist, but I’ll probably fetch me guitar, and I know we have a song that we wrote for John. So that’s that,” Lennon said in a recorded message two days before the Dec. 10, 1971, concert.

The sold-out John Sinclair Freedom Rally was a mishmash of music, poetry, and political speeches. Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, and Commander Cody – all Michigan performers – shared the stage with poet Allen Ginsberg, Black Panther cofounder Bobby Seale, and several members of details

 An illustration of Paul McCartney sits under the words “Paul Lives on!” The Northern Star Editorial Board apologizes to the singer for encouraging false rumors of his death. (Eleanor Gentry | Northern Star)

The Northern Star Editorial Board would like to sincerely apologize to Paul McCartney, a musical icon, for our false Sept. 23, 1969, print issue that unethically speculated that he was dead.
A 1969 Northern Star publication shows an article speculating if Paul McCartney is alive. (Bridgette Fox | Northern Star)

In 2004, the Star finally decided to yield to the truth that McCartney is not dead in an article covering the sordid history of the “Paul is dead” rumors.

However, it has recently come to light that our infamous 1969 article was plagiarized from a Times-Delphic article written a week prior to our article. The Times-Delphic is the student-run newspaper of Drake University.

To the Times-Delphic, we sincerely apologize for plagiarizing your journalistic efforts.

Source: northernstar.info

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Ringo Starr is inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame where he was the Inaugural recipient of the ... [+] Joe Chambers Musicians Legacy Award on September 24, 2023.

On Sunday afternoon, in front of an invitation-only group of friends and musicians, the legendary Ringo Starr was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. While the Nashville museum honors musicians of all genres, with the names of many notable recipients on the walls, there was something special in paying tribute to one of the Beatles, and the man Peter Frampton calls “one of the greatest drummers of all time.”

Before the ceremony, Ringo graciously agreed to briefly walk a small red carpet answering a few questions from the media. He touched on his love of country music, noted he has three new EPs in the works, and when asked if he has any advice for up-and-coming musicians he simply said, “Just keep playing. I have grandsons and I tell ‘em the same thing.”

Source: Pam Windsor/forbes.com

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The Beatles were awarded their MBE's on 26 October 1965

A complete set of Beatles autographs obtained by a firefighter who was receiving his MBE on the same day as the band are to be sold at auction.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr signed a book for George Goodman at Buckingham Palace on 26 October 1965.

He said it was for his daughter, adding "I don't know what she sees in you" - a comment later repeated by McCartney.

The signatures go on sale in Lichfield, Staffordshire on 9 October.

Mr Goodman's daughter Joy, now 70, said she had had the autograph book "tucked away for years", but felt it was now time to pass it on to a collector who would appreciate it.

Source: Caroline Gall/bbc.com

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John Lennon used the phrase "a hard days night" in a short story that came out before The Beatles' song with a similar name. The short story hasn't aged well.

Ringo Starr‘s contributions to The Beatles get understated, but there’s one way they might be overstated. Ringo is credited with coming up with the title of The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night.” John Lennon gave Ringo a lot of credit, while still acknowledging he used the name first. Specifically, John used it in a nonsense story that hasn’t aged particularly well.

In a 1980 interview from the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John discussed the origins of the name A Hard Day’s Night. “[Director] Dick Lester suggested the title Hard Day’s Night from something Ringo’d said,” he said. “I had used it in In His Own Write, but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringoism, where he said it not to be funny, just said it.” John published In His Own Write, a book of avant-garde stories, in March 1964. For comparison, the film A Hard Day’s Night and the song and album of the same name came in details

1. Ringo Starr
2. Bob Dylan
3. Dolly Parton
4. Willie Nelson
5. Paul McCartney
6. Frankie Valli
7. Mick Jagger
8. Yoko Ono
9. Rod Stewart
10. Dionne Warwick
11. Brian Wilson
12. Buddy Guy
13. Barbra Streisand
14. Pat Boone
15. Dick Van Dyke
16. Neil Diamond
17. Billy Joel
18. Paul Simon
19. Chubby Checker
20. Bill Hayes
21. Bobby Rush
22. Petula Clark
23. Smokey Robinson
24. Linda Ronstadt
25. Dion DiMucci
26. Billie Jean Horton

In the last several years we’ve lost many of our musical heroes. Though it’s sad that so many legends are gone, we’re also fortunate that many are still around.

If you’re interested in the oldest musicians still alive in 2023, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive into 26 artists who have reached significant age milestones.

Source: Hope Davis/musicinminnesota.com

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The legacy and fascination of The Beatles continues in the city - but not many know what it is like to walk in the same footsteps every day as a member of the Fab Four before their days in the spotlight.

The late John Lennon lived in his childhood home, Mendips in Woolton, from 1945 to 1963 and it was there that he wrote some of his earliest work before The Beatles rose to stardom. Living with his aunt Mimi, in later years it was Lennon's widow Yoko Ono who bought the house in March 2002, donating it to the National Trust in order to save it from demolition and property speculators.

The childhood home of Paul McCartney - 13 Forthlin Road - is also owned and managed by the National Trust, with many citing it as the birthplace of The Beatles. And whilst the sites continue to attract thousands upon thousands of tourists and Beatles fans from across the globe year on year, not a lot of people can say they have lived in a house of this historic significance to The Beatles story.

Source: Jess Molyneux/liverpoolecho.co.uk

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Keith Richards has said that John Lennon and George Harrison would have fitted into The Rolling Stones in a new interview.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Richards opened up about The Beatles and the rivalry between the band’s fans in the sixties.

Richards explained: “I don’t think John Lennon would have had much problem fitting into the Stones, or George, if you can imagine that sort of thing happening.”

He continued: “We were the same generation, and we all loved the same music. When we first heard The Beatles, we were relieved that there was some other band in England on the same track that we were on. And within a few months, that track was the main track.”

Source: Elizabeth Aubrey/nme.com

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The notion of a Fifth Beatle emerged when US radio DJ Murray the K joked about giving The Beatles so much airtime in America, that he should be considered the ‘Fifth Beatle’. From the early days of ‘Beatlemania’ the legend grew. However, the answer to the puzzle is clear: there wasn’t a Fifth Beatle. Instead, The Beatles’ immense success sparked the legend of an honorary ‘fifth’ member. Lennon, McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were the undisputed Fab Four. Nevertheless, here are the candidates for the elusive fifth spot.

A serious contender for the role of ‘Fifth Beatle’ was Brian Epstein. Manager of the band from 1962, until his untimely death in 1967. Publicly The Beatles addressed him as ‘Mr Epstein’ or ‘Brian’, in private they affectionately referred to him as ‘Eppy’, or ‘Bri’. Epstein wasn’t involved in the music. But he was nonetheless the key architect of ‘Beatlemania’. He expertly engineered the ‘mob’ of screaming fans that met The Beatles at every public turn and profoundly influenced their public image from their early ‘clean cut’ appearance to the psyc details