Beatles News
Beatles fans were floored after discovering the staggering $400+ million budget that's been allocated to Sam Mendes' forthcoming four-installment biopic.
This year it was announced that a four-part movie franchise is in production with each film focusing on a different band member, including the lives of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. This ambitious project is the first authorized biopic of the band, with feedback given directly from The Beatles' families.
And now, fans are in disbelief as it has been confirmed that each movie will be given a budget of roughly $100 million apiece, with the total project costing an estimated $400+ million. In addition to this jaw-dropping budget, the movie has also released their star-studded lineup of actors leading the project including Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn, and Barry Keoghan.
According to reports by Screen Rant, this over $400+ million budget will make The Beatles biopics the fifth most expensive movies of all time. The budget follows Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($416 million), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($447 million), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($465 million), and Jurassic World Dominion ($465 million).
The cast of Sam Mendes' Beatles biopics have left fans furious. The casting of the movies have been met with mixed reactions from fans
After discovering this enormous budget, fans took to a newly posted Reddit thread sharing their thoughts on the project. One critic asked, "That's more than the budget for the two Resurrection of the Christ films. Are you saying that the Beatles are bigger than Jesus?"
Source: Caroline Gaspich/themirror.com
Celebrating his 85th birthday in July, Ringo Starr has likely uttered his signature phrase "Peace and Love" millions of times. Sept. 12 from the Miller High Life Theatre stage in Milwaukee with his supergroup the All Starr Band, he added three more to the tally.
That sentiment - and Starr's uplifting spirit - is something we all could really use right now. Milwaukee was especially lucky to get it. Starr and the band - including Steve Lukather from Toto, Colin Hay from Men at Work and Hamish Stuart from Average White Band - is performing in just six cities this month before heading off the road, the Miller High Life Theatre being the second stop. Naturally it was at capacity.
Source: jsonline.com/Piet Levy
A photo signed by all four Beatles for a Birmingham teenager is set to go under the hammer. The world-famous group from Liverpool signed the incredible piece of history roughly 62 years ago after they were told to stop playing by the teen's dad because they were being too noisy.
The picture of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr was signed by the group before a gig at the Coventry Theatre at the start of Beatlemania.
Chris Barrows, selling the photo, said his late brother Phil was at the gig with their father Ron who was Steinway’s chief piano tuner for the Midlands area at the time. "My dad came home one day and said he was going to tune the piano ahead of The Beatles’ show and other performances,” said Chris, 74, who now lives in Atherstone, Warwickshire.
“I didn’t go as at that time I was more interested in football...but my brother had been playing guitar for six months and went along.”
Rob French, ephemera valuer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, with the signed Beatles photograph(Image: Richard Winterton Auctioneers)
The Beatles were already there when the pair arrived - and the boys’ dad was said to have asked Ringo to stop playing the drums so he could focus on his work.
That gave Phil a chance to visit the band in their dressing room, with the budding guitarist even enjoying a quick jam with the stars.
"He played guitar with John Lennon and Paul McCartney and even had a go on Paul’s left-handed bass," Chris said.
Phil also returned with a photo signed by the group with the personal message 'to Philip best wishes from the Beatles' written in blue ink at the top of the picture.
John Lennon's signature is in the top left-hand corner of the picture, with Ringo Starr's autograph cloaked by the group's dark suits yet still visible due to the impression of the pen.
George Harrison’s and Paul McCartney’s signatures are on the reverse side of the photograph.
It's estimated that it could fetch between £1,500 and £2,000 at auction.
“This is a super set of all four autographs from the biggest band in the world signed right on the cusp of Beatlemania,” said Rob French, ephemera valuer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, which will auction the photo at the The Lichfield Auction Centre on September 29.
He added: "The precise date of the meeting is not remembered by the vendor but it was possibly November 1963 as The Beatles played the Coventry Theatre on November 17 1963.
“What a thrill it must have been for this young music fan to not only meet The Fab Four but to get all their autographs with a personal dedication.”
Source: Harry Leach/birminghammail.co.uk
Sixty years ago today, on September 13, 1965, The Beatles released “Yesterday” in the United States. It went straight to No. 1 and has since become the most recorded song in history, with over 2,200 cover versions.
But what fascinates me more than the stats is how the song came into the world.
Paul McCartney told Terry Gross in a 2001 Fresh Air interview that the melody came to him in a dream. He woke up with the tune running through his head, hurried to the piano by his bed, and played it before it slipped away.
At first, the words to the song running through McCartney’s head as he played the song were nonsense: “Scrambled eggs, oh my baby, how I love your legs.”
For months, he carried that melody around, convinced he must have stolen it.
Only later, while driving through France with Jane Asher, his long-time girlfriend, did the real words arrive: “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.”
That gap between melody and meaning has always stayed with me. Sometimes the music of what we feel is crystal clear, but the words fail us.
I know that from experience.
I once told a woman I loved for forty years that “truth is overrated.” In my mind, it was simple: nobody likes being told they’re fat, or old, or anything else cruel in the name of honesty.
What I meant was that kindness matters more than bluntness.
But what she heard was different. She thought I meant I wouldn’t hesitate to lie to her.
One sentence, and the meaning I intended was lost in the words that came out.
That’s what “Yesterday” captures so perfectly. McCartney never tells us what was said, only that something was spoken, something wrong, and now it can’t be unsaid. “Why she had to go, I don’t know, she wouldn’t say.”
The vagueness is the point. Each of us fills in the blank with our own story, our own regret.
Sixty years later, the song is still haunting because it isn’t about one breakup. It’s about the universal ache of wishing you could go back, not to rewrite history, but simply to catch the right words before they slip away.
That’s the enduring power of “Yesterday.” It reminds us that words matter, that they can bend meaning in ways we never intend, and that sometimes the distance between what we mean and what is heard is the real story.
The same holds true in our careers. Misunderstandings don’t just strain personal relationships; they can derail projects, weaken trust, and stall opportunities.
I’m still learning this myself, but here are five ways I’ve found to make sure my words at work are received with the meaning I intend:
Prepare, don’t wing it. Whether it’s a meeting or a one-on-one, taking a moment to choose words carefully helps prevent misspoken words and sentences.
Know your audience. What feels clear to you might sound vague, or even threatening, to a colleague, client, or boss. Tailor your message to the person or audience you’re speaking with.
Be concise. Long explanations leave room for confusion. Short, clear statements land more accurately.
Confirm understanding. Don’t just assume your message stuck. Ask questions or invite feedback to ensure you’ve been heard as intended.
Balance honesty with tact. In professional settings, truth matters, but delivery matters just as much. Frame feedback in a way that builds trust instead of eroding it.
Sixty years after McCartney’s dream, “Yesterday” still echoes because it reminds us of the power and fragility of language. At work and in life, our words are remembered long after we speak them.
Choosing them with care makes all the difference.
Source: Ken Knickerbocker/philadelphia.today
Once in a blue moon, a cultural or historical event will happen that shakes our idea of what is and isn’t possible. The “unsinkable” Titanic’s tragic fate. Putting a man on the moon. From a purely pop cultural standpoint, The Beatles breaking up was another one of those “this will never happen” moments.
The Beatles were one of the first musical acts to make being in a band cool. This pioneering status, paired with just under a decade’s worth of chart-topping hits and international stardom, made the band’s official split in 1970 all the more jarring—to the public, anyway. The Beatles repeatedly said they saw the split coming, and John Lennon was no exception.
But what was a bit more surprising, perhaps even to the other Beatles, was a revelation that John Lennon spoke about three years after the Fab Four split for good. What Caused the Beatles To Split, Anyway?
The answer to that question changes depending on who you ask and is, most likely, an amalgamation of several causal factors that blended into one another until the Beatles couldn’t take it any longer. But from a strictly legal, financial perspective, one of the most pressing reasons that the Beatles decided to break up was Paul McCartney’s unwillingness to have Allen Klein manage Apple Corps’ finances following the death of Brian Epstein.
McCartney didn’t trust Klein and wanted his father-in-law, Lee Eastman, to take Epstein’s place. The band outvoting McCartney and hiring Klein was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. Clashing egos, creative differences, a desire to explore outside of the band they had been in since they were teenagers and adults: all of these explanations came to a head in the final months of 1969 and early 1970.
Three years later, John Lennon reflected on the entire debacle during an appearance on Weekend World. “They’re always trying to pinpoint what happened,” he said. “Why The Beatles split up. Right? Well, The Beatles were splitting up themselves. Disintegrating is the word for it. I think the Klein-Eastman situation really pushed it over the hill.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
When the surviving Beatles — Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — reunited in the studio in the mid ’90s, the band members felt they weren’t alone, as “strange goings-on” hinted at John Lennon’s supernatural presence.
The trio’s team-up, coming 25 years after the Fab Four disbanded, and a decade and a half after the death of John Lennon, represented the time they’d worked on new music together as they set about bringing the unreleased John Lennon song “Free as a Bird” to life.
It was one of two new songs, alongside “Real Love” — also born from John Lennon’s mind — to feature on 1995’s Anthology box set. As news of a fourth addition in the Anthology series broke last week, McCartney’s reflections on the unusual incidents that surrounded the recording of “Free as a Bird” have come to light.
“There were a lot of strange goings-on in the studio — noises that shouldn’t have been there and equipment doing all manner of weird things,” McCartney once told OnHike.com (via The Mirror). “There was just an overall feeling that John was around.”
Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, had given the rest of the band the two of his demos with the view of transforming them into finished songs. The unexplainable occurrences weren't exclusive to "Free as a Bird" either; the "Real Love" sessions were just as creepy.
“We put one of those spoof backward recordings on the end of the single for a laugh, to give all those Beatles nuts something to do,” McCartney said with a laugh. “I think it was the line of a George Formby song.” Formby was a popular entertainer when the Beatles were growing up and a favorite of the group's members, particularly Harrison.
“Then we were listening to the finished single in the studio one night, and it gets to the end, and it goes, ‘zzzwrk nggggwaaahhh jooohn lennnnnon qwwwrk.’ I swear to God.
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“We were like, ‘It’s John. He likes it!’”
Lennon once told his son Julian if he ever needed to contact him from beyond the grave, he'd send a white feather. That wasn't lost on McCartney when the three musicians stepped outside the studio for an impromptu photo opportunity. At the last minute, a white peacock entered the frame.
Source: guitarplayer.com/Phil Weller
The Beatles have been busy. So has New Orleans-based Beatles expert Bruce Spizer.
Just as the Beatles announced that the 1995 “Anthology” documentary will be rereleased and expanded on screen, on vinyl and in print this fall, Spizer has released the ninth and final book in his meticulously researched Beatles Album Series about the band’s recorded output.
The utilitarian title of Spizer’s “Beatles For Sale To Help!” conveys the span of albums covered in the new book.
As with his 16 previous Beatles books, Spizer published the latest through his own 498 Productions with a hardback cover and heavy, glossy stock. The 264 pages are chock-full of full-color photographs of album and singles covers, relevant news magazines — Spizer likes to discuss Beatles releases within the context of what was going on in the world at large — vintage advertisements and promotional items from his personal collection of memorabilia.
Such is Spizer’s expertise that Universal Music Group, Capitol Records and the Beatles’ Apple Corps Ltd. consult with him on Beatles-related projects. He wrote the questions for the Beatles-themed special edition of Trivial Pursuit.
He often speaks at Beatles-related conventions around the globe. This week, he’ll reprise two of his popular presentations in his hometown.
On Sunday at 12:30 p.m., the Prytania Theater hosts Spizer's "Beatles and Bond” talk. He'll narrate an audio/visual presentation about the Beatles’ second film, “Help!,” followed by a screening of the James Bond film “Goldfinger.”
He’ll then elaborate on how “Help!” parodied several scenes from “Goldfinger,” cutting between footage of both films. Tickets are available at the Prytania box.
Source: NOLA
Sir Paul McCartney is close to finishing his first solo album in more than five years.
The Beatles legend is not only nearing completion on his follow-up to 2020's McCartney III, but the 83-year-old musician is said to be plotting a return to his homeland for a UK tour in 2026.
A source told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column: “Paul has been working on the album all year and initially hoped it would be out by the end of this year but as with most things plans change.
“It’s not quite finished but the majority of the album is done and Paul is really proud of it.
“As for live shows he’s told his team he wants to tour the UK again, so live gigs next year are also happening.”
Until then, Macca has a US tour kicking off next month, which will commence on September 29 in Palm Desert, California, and is currently due to end on November 25 in Chicago.
In February this year, Macca put on a series of intimate concerts at New York’s iconic Bowery Ballroom.
Meanwhile, McCartney has co-authored a book about his time in Wings, set for release in November.
The icon formed the rock band in 1971, after the Beatles split, and McCartney has shared his experiences in a new book called Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run.
The chart-topping star said: "I’m so very happy to be transported back to the time that was Wings and relive some of our madcap adventures through this book.
"Starting from scratch after the Beatles felt crazy at times. There were some very difficult moments and I often questioned my decision. But as we got better I thought, ‘OK, this is really good.’ We proved Wings could be a really good band. To play to huge audiences in the same way the Beatles had and have an impact in a different way. It was a huge buzz."
McCartney formed Wings with his wife Linda, drummer Denny Seiwell, and guitarist Denny Laine.
The group released seven studio albums - including 'Band on the Run', 'London Town' and 'Venus and Mars' - between 1971 and 1981.
McCartney co-authored the tome with historian Ted Widmer, who said: "Wings was about love, family, friendship and artistic growth, often in the face of tremendous adversity."
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Source: music-news.com
Each of The Beatles has enjoyed a successful solo career. I wouldn’t say that the band’s beloved late guitarist, George Harrison, is anywhere close to underrated. However, when compared to the likes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, I don’t think he gets as much love as he deserves for the big things he did as a solo artist post-Beatles. Let’s look at just a few moments that prove George Harrison was capable of outshining his past with the Fab Four.
He Formed One of the Best Supergroups
The Travelling Wilburys were a killer supergroup. There’s no denying that. Formed in 1988 and lasting just a few short years, this group was made up of some of the greatest artists in rock and folk. Members included George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Roy Orbison. And songs like “Handle With Care” and “She’s My Baby” would have never hit the airwaves if Harrison and Lynne hadn’t come up with the idea together while working on the former’s 1987 record, Cloud Nine.
All Things Must Pass was technically George Harrison’s third album as a solo artist. However, it was his first after The Beatles broke up in 1970, and also the first of any former Beatles’ records to hit No. 1. It certainly makes sense why. This folk rock venture is absolutely gorgeous. All Things Must Pass was a carefully put-together work. It’s full of songs that Harrison had been working on while still part of the Fab Four. His songwriting talents really came out on this record, and it proved that he was on the same musical level as The Beatles’ two principal songwriters.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
The “rose-tinted glasses” worn by The Beatles in several of their music videos were picked up by Paul McCartney from an optician.
Iconic glasses featured in music videos for The Beatles were, according to McCartney, picked up out of a necessity to make the drab recording studio that much better. Ordering “half a dozen” different colours, the Let It Be songwriter brought them to the sessions as a way of livening things up. George Martin, The Beatles’ long-serving producer, added that fluorescent poles were also added into the studio to kindle the band’s creativity. McCartney shared: “If you remember, we all came in with rose-coloured or funny-coloured specs, and where I was living.
“There was a little optician round the corner, and I sort of popped in and said, ‘Do you do different coloured lenses and everything?’ and they said, ‘Yeah, I do anything.’ So I ordered up like, half a dozen different colours, you know, rose, green, blue, and took them to the sessions.
Producer Martin confirmed he remembers the glasses, but also remembers the Fab Four’s strong dislike for the drab studio. White walls and the lack of atmosphere proved stifling for the band, who were offered some fluorescent pipes to liven the place up.
Martin replied: “That was to give you a bit of atmosphere in the studio. I remember all of you saying, ‘This is a sterile place, it’s just white walls and bloody awful.’ I had to do something to liven it up. So they put in three fluorescent stands with red, blue, and white.”
But McCartney says it was “red and green”, not “red, blue, and white”. The Wings frontman says he knows this “because I’ve got them in my studio.” Martin would add they were installed to give the Fab Four some “inspiration”, with McCartney jokingly adding: “And boy, did it ever. We grooved after that.”
McCartney has spent decades in the studio, and one of his major projects with The Beatles after the band disbanded was in remastering Let It Be. His dislike for the work Phil Spector provided the album prompted McCartney to create Let It Be… Naked.
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
