Why Did The Beatles Break Up? Inside the Band's Differences
The Beatles are arguably the greatest band of all time, releasing memorable music and marking historic milestones until their unexpected breakup in 1970.
The four musicians that comprised The Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — were known as “The Fab Four.” They exploded onto the scene in the U.K. in 1962 before reaching incomprehensible levels of popularity and acclaim when they visited America in 1964 — covered in the Beatles ‘64 documentary released on Nov. 29 — culturally referred to as “Beatlemania.”
After ceasing touring in 1966, The Beatles released Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band — one of the most critically and commercially successful albums of all time —in 1967, but tragedy struck that year. Their manager Brian Epstein, who previously handled much of The Beatles’ business affairs, died.
In the following years, the band experimented with their sound, creating more classic albums like Abbey Road and Let it Be. Outside of the studio, Lennon married Yoko Ono in 1969 and began bringing her to recording sessions, which caused tension.
These events and growing creative differences amongst the group contributed to the breakup. Each Beatle had differing reasons as to why exactly they broke up, but a constant theme was that they were going in opposite directions, as Starr summed up in an interview on Private Sessions in February 2008.
“It was a bit of a drag it broke up even though we all wanted it. We had been working steady for eight years and we’d been these brothers,” Starr said. “We all wanted it. We’d all grown up a little more, and we weren’t prepared to put in the time and energy for each other.”
Source: Skyler Trepel/people.com
