Beatles News
For much of The Beatles’ career, the songwriting spotlight fell predominantly on the partnership between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Their prolific writing was at the forefront of the band’s records, and often left limited space for songs written by George Harrison and Ringo Starr. But, by the late 1960s, Harrison had developed his songwriting to a place of quiet sophistication, and one tune in particular would prove that he deserved greater recognition.
“Something” is Harrison’s beautiful masterpiece that was first featured on Abbey Road and described by Lennon as “The best track on the album.” The song quickly became one of the most celebrated songs in rock history and was a great introduction to Harrison’s philosophy. “Something” truly marked the point where Harrison’s abilities could no longer be overlooked, firmly establishing him as an equal creative force in The Beatles.
The Beatles are most famously associated with the songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with around 180 songs in the band’s catalog credited to the pair. While they certainly wrote the majority of the material, their dominance in quantity didn’t necessarily mean their contributions were qualitatively superior to those of their bandmates, particularly George Harrison.
Source: collider.com/Fiona MacPherson-Amador
A concert film of John Lennon and Yoko Ono‘s monumental 1972 Madison Square Garden concert will hit cinemas this spring. The film, whose official title is longer than its 81-minute running time, Power to the People: John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band With Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests – Live at the One to One Concert, New York City, 1972, will hit theaters on April 29 and May 3. Tickets go on sale March 20 via a special website for the film.
As every armchair Lennonologist and Onoologist knows, the former Beatle performed only two full concerts, the now legendary benefit gigs to raise a reported $1.5 million for developmentally disabled children, after the Fab Four broke up. Both took place on Aug. 30 with a truncated matinee preceding a full-length, star-studded extravaganza. Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Melanie, and Sha Na Na all made appearances at the gig. The set list included “Give Peace a Chance,” “Imagine,” “Come Together,” and “Instant Karma!” among other hits.
Director Steve Gebhardt filmed the concerts, which originally came out as a 40-minute TV special, John Lennon and Yoko Ono Present the One-to-One Concert, and was later re-edited into the 55-minute John Lennon Live in New York City in 1986. Footage from the concerts was later used in Kevin MacDonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’ recent documentary, One to One: John & Yoko, which focused more on rehearsals and preparation for the concerts.
Source: Kory Grow/rollingstone.com
Cinematic Event is one of the most ambitious on-screen projects of all time: four interconnected biopics of each member of the seminal British Invasion band. As the project's Ringo Starr, Barry Keoghan is loving the experience, especially as they film on location in Liverpool. He recently spoke with Collider's Steve Weintraub while promoting his latest film, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Keoghan discussed getting to know the Beatles, both in person and via his extensive research for the role. When asked about his experience filming the project for Sam Mendes in the same locations where the band had their formative years, Keoghan told Collider:
He also expressed his admiration for the artistry of cinematographer Greig Fraser, who also worked with Keoghan on The Batman. While he couldn't share any updates on The Batman 2, Keoghan was quick to praise Fraser's incredible work alongside Mendes."It's been great working with Greig," said Keoghan. "I've learned so much from watching him and Sam [Mendes] work together and just being a part of that, and how they work together and seeing the stuff he's doing. I've also really upped my game on my photography, and Greig has been showing me a lot of film and photography. I'm addicted now, basically." The Beatles is filming now, but it won't be released in theaters until April 7, 2028.
Source: collider.com/Rob London, Steven Weintraub
There was some consternation when this release was announced. The Anthology series was being expanded to four double albums — but that fourth one was only going to be available as part of this deluxe box set. And while the previous Anthologies had mostly featured unreleased tracks, Anthology 4 has a slimmer margin: of the 36 tracks, only 13 are previously unreleased.
As we know, the decision was ultimately made to release Anthology 4 as a stand-alone release as well as in the deluxe set. Hooray! That provides more incentive to pick up the new disc if you didn’t want to splurge for the entire box set, which was looking like it was going to be of most interest to completists.
But there’s more to this release than meets the eye. Anthology 1 through 3 have all been remastered (they were first remastered for digital release on iTunes in 2011). And that isn’t the only sonic upgrading that’s been done. The pre-1962 tracks on Anthology 1 (including the earliest known Beatles studio recording, “That’ll Be The Day,” recorded at a Liverpool home studio in 1958), have all been spruced up and sound vastly improved. Select tracks (e.g. “All My Loving,” from the first Ed Sullivan appearance in 1964), have been given new mixes by Giles Martin, son of original Beatles producer George Martin, who’s worked on all the album deluxe reissue box sets since 2017’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Other tracks have been tweaked with new stereo processing (described as “a subtle spread of the mono signal”). And some tracks have been swapped out for the bonus track versions that appeared on the deluxe reissue box sets. In all, there are changes to over 30 tracks, meaning these Anthologies aren’t entirely the ones you remember.
Source: goldminemag.com./Patrick Prince
The Beatles made quite a splash on the film world with A Hard Day’s Night. Along with starring in the 1964 film, the group also churned out an album that left most of their peers behind in terms of the depth of the material.
Many of the songs on A Hard Day’s Night are no less than pop music standards these days. But do you know the stories behind these songs and this album?
The title track of the album and film has gained great notoriety for the memorable opening guitar chord (which is actually a few different instruments playing multiple chords). Many people also know the story of how they came up with the name of the song. Ringo Starr uttered the phrase when he came out of a session and realized that the group had worked into the darkness. But John Lennon had also used the phrase in his book In His Own Write, the publication of which predated the recording of the song.
The Beatles recorded not only the songs that went into the film but also the remaining tracks that filled out the album. That’s 14 songs in all. And every one of them was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. For the first time, The Beatles had recorded an album of all original material, something that was unheard of in the world of pop music at the time. Because he still wasn’t confident as a writer, George Harrison was relegated to singing a Lennon/McCartney song (“I’m Happy Just To Dance With You”) to get a lead vocal on the album.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
On the 10th of April 1970, Paul McCartney announced what had, by then, been falsely reported so many times as to seem almost impossible – The Beatles, biggest band to ever do it, were finished.
Within a week he’d released his first solo record. Before the year was out, all three of his former bandmates had done the same, and as of today, the solo careers of each ex-Beatle have between them produced, depending on how you count it, something in the region of 85 albums.
That’s a lot to wade through for anyone keen on venturing beyond the band’s mere-12-studio-album discography. But wade we must, and there is so much to learn in our wading. These records are charged with parting barbs and so variously excellent and awful and bewildering. They contain in their collected mass not just a huge quantity of interesting and enjoyable music, but a path toward an understanding of what it was that made the band work as it did. Who was good at what? Who needed what from whom, whose instincts were balanced by whose, and what kinds of adventures might result from the removal of the structures of the band?
Source: gq-magazine.co.uk/Killian Faith-Kelly
The most controversial moment in The Beatles’ career was certainly when John Lennon called the band “bigger than Jesus.” While the comment was meant to be a bit of hyperbole about how big Beatle mania was, it was taken literally. Many album-burnings later, The Beatles lost their seemingly unshakeable grip on the world.
While Lennon apologized for his comments, it never truly erased this dark spot on the band’s tenure. As the band’s time together drew to a close, Lennon became more and more open about his lack of faith in religion, as well as other systems of belief. This change didn’t help his case with the infamous “Jesus” comment. After shouldering a pretty big PR crisis during his band years, Lennon proved he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind in his solo career, releasing a song that felt like him doubling down on his prior controversy.
Lennon famously pondered a world without religion in “Imagine.” He wasn’t shy about his opinion that many organized religions did more harm than good. His solo career was riddled with songs that explore the idea of “false idols,” including the topic of conversation today: “God.”
Lennon wasn’t an avid atheist. He often explored spirituality and religion, but in the end, he always returned to his view that belief is usually misguided. In “God,” Lennon rejects pretty much everything other than the one force he did believe in: love.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper
“Hey Jude” was released over 50 years ago, and it’s still one of The Beatles’ most revered songs. The tune carries a message that’s meant to be hopeful, with lines like “Take a sad song and make it better.” However, the story behind “Hey Jude” is actually a little depressing. Here’s the tale of how Paul McCartney became inspired to write “Hey Jude”. Spoiler, it’s a tearjerker.
In 1968, McCartney was on his way to visit Cynthia Lennon and her son, Julian. At the time, Cynthia was going through a divorce from his fellow Beatle John Lennon. Lennon had been having an affair with Yoko Ono, his later second wife. Apparently, the separation from Cynthia ended up being quite nasty.
According to The Beatles Anthology, it was on the drive there that McCartney came up with what he describes as “a hopeful message” for Lennon’s son, Julian. Julian was around 5 years old at the time.
McCartney said of the drive, “I would always turn the radio off and try and make up songs, just in case… I started singing, ‘Hey Jules – don’t make it bad, take a sad song, and make it better…’”
Little did he know that gesture of positivity would go on to become an international hit. “Hey Jude” would spend 9 weeks at No. 1 in the U.S. and would also sell 8 million copies worldwide.
“Hey Jude” Is a Song for When You “Feel Lousy”
Interestingly enough, Julian Lennon, who’s much older now, has mixed feelings about “Hey Jude”.
“Well, you know, I have a love-hate with it, I have to say,” he admitted to Men’s Journal. Although he’s thankful for the song, it’s also a “stark and dark” reminder of what went down at that time in his life.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Kat Caudill
Collider ranked "Dig It" as the worst Beatles song, calling it "an empty song."
Paul McCartney confirmed John Lennon announced leaving the band in a meeting.
McCartney said he and Lennon reconciled before Lennon's death: "It was beautiful."
Despite disbanding in 1970, The Beatles have maintained their international popularity. However, not all their songs are exactly beloved.
In February 2026, Collider released a ranking of the top worst Beatles songs. The list featured tunes like “Savoy Truffle” from 1968, 1965’s “Run for Your Life,” “Your Mother Should Know” from 1967, 1965’s “What Goes On,” and “Little Child” from 1963.
According to the publication, the top five worst Beatles songs include 1964’s “Honey Don’t,” 1970’s “Maggie Mae,” 1968’s “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?,” and “Wild Honey Pie” from 1968. 1970’s “Dig It” from the band’s final album, Let It Be, secured the number one spot on the list. Collider reported that “Dig It” was an empty song, not worthy of Let It Be.
In a 2018 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Paul McCartney discussed The Beatles breaking up after recording Let It Be and 1969’s Abbey Road. According to McCartney, his late bandmate, John Lennon, decided to leave the band.
“There was a meeting where John said, ‘Hey guys I’m leaving the group,'” said McCartney during the interview.
McCartney suggested that he and Lennon didn’t have the best relationship following the band’s breakup. He explained that they were both releasing songs “about each other.” “Like weaponizing songs,” said McCartney.
He said, however, that he and Lennon mended their friendship before his 1980 death.
“We got over it, luckily. I feel very blessed that we got over it. Because if we hadn’t, and then John goes and gets killed, I don’t know how I would have dealt with that. I was very lucky because we sort of got back together. It was beautiful. I would ring him and go see him in New York,” said McCartney in the 2018 interview.
In addition, McCartney said that he and his Beatles bandmates, which also included Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison, never came together again after the band’s split.
Source:parade.com/Nicole Moore
Every evening at 6pm, a gin and tonic was brought to him.
High on a mountainside on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, overlooking a valley leading down to the ocean, stood a recording studio. George Martin, who’d built it, liked to let his hair down when he made albums there. Within reason, that is.
The famously suave producer, renowned for his cut‑glass accent, had a well‑known distaste for rock ’n’ roll excess. His routine at AIR Montserrat was much more civilised: every evening at 6pm, a gin and tonic was brought to him by a butler in a white jacket. Martin, an immaculate dresser himself, would relax in shorts and flip‑flops.
“You could walk out of the studio, take three steps and you’d be in a swimming pool,” says Midge Ure, who recorded at AIR Montserrat in the ’80s. “It was a glamorous, luxurious environment. It was your place; nobody else went there. Very chilled, very British in its weird little way.” Gold and platinum discs rolled in.
Ure’s band Ultravox had persuaded Martin to produce their 1982 album Quartet. The 56‑year‑old “Fifth Beatle” wasn’t used to synthesiser bands, but he surprised them with his knowledge of new technology. Ure: “I remember him timing the gaps between snare hits on a LinnDrum and saying, ‘If we delayed it by 15 milliseconds, it would have a slightly more human feel.’ Nothing fazed him.”
Prior to Ultravox, Martin had worked on Montserrat with Cheap Trick and the heavy metal band UFO. In the ’70s he’d produced Cleo Laine, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Jeff Beck. On paper, his CV since his Abbey Road heyday looked eccentric – and was notable for its sparseness of ex‑Beatle solo projects – but then, out of the blue, Paul McCartney reached out to his old mentor and invited him to produce Tug Of War (1982).
Source: David Cavanagh/uncut.co.uk
