Beatles News
The Beatles' Legendary Hit Song Held the No. 1 Spot on the Billboard Charts for 9 Straight Weeks.
In a conversation about the biggest Beatles' song of all time, a lot of timeless tracks may come to mind. The legendary band boasts a rich discography, many of which weren't just critically praised but were also commercially successful. That includes songs like "Let It Be," "Can't Buy Me Love," "She Loves You," "Hello Goodbye," "Yesterday," "Twist and Shout," and many more. But history has kept its record. And the one song that became one of the biggest hits of their career is none other than "Hey Jude" — a non-album single released in 1968.
Written by Paul McCartney and credited under the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, "Hey Jude" became the longest-running number-one single by a rock act of the 1960s on the US Billboard Hot 100 — an impressive achievement for any artist in the decade. It was also the band's longest-running number-one single ever, having spent a total of nine weeks on the chart. It surpassed the record made by "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (another successful track from the band), which spent seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Hey Jude" was also a number-one hit in various countries and sold millions of copies. The track, however, is more than just a commercial triumph for the band; it has also been cited as one of the greatest songs of all time, not only by the band themselves but also in the history of music.
Source: collider.com/Ryan Louis Mantilla
As arguably the most important rock and pop band in music history, The Beatles (and their individual members) have understandably been the subject of several documentaries over the decades, from contemporary accounts at the height of their fame in the late 60s, to recent biographies and retrospectives by some of the movie world’s most acclaimed filmmakers. Some have taken deeper dives than others into the lives, history, and music of the Fab Four, with varying results overall—both critically and commercially, and among reviewers, musicians, filmmakers, and fans alike. Ten of the band’s most interesting and worthwhile documentary features are listed here, ranked by critical and commercial performance, and their place in both the band’s canon and cinema history.
All Together Now (2008)
Meeting the Beatles in India (2020)
Imagine: John Lennon (1988)
The Beatles Revolution (2000)
Let It Be (1970)
The Compleat Beatles (1982)
The Beatles: Get Back (2021)
The Beatles Anthology (1995)
Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years (2016)
Beatles ’64 (2013)
All Together Now (2008)
In the early 2000s, George Harrison and his friend Guy Laliberté began working on a collaborative project that would utilize the Beatles’ music as the soundtrack to an extravagant live show by the Cirque du Soleil (of which Laliberté was a cofounder). After three years of fraught negotiations between the band’s surviving members, their representatives, and record executives, the show, entitled Love, at long last went into production and debuted in 2006. Directed by Adrian Wills, the acclaimed 2008 documentary All Together Now charts this entire creative process, including the early meetings between the Cirque and Apple Corps creative teams, plus interviews with the likes of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono. The following year, it won the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video.
Source: mentalfloss.com/Nitya Rao
Right up until near the end, when things got a little dicey, The Beatles mostly projected an air of harmony to the public. Only after the breakup did we find out that there were occasionally severe arguments. But they kept these mostly hidden from the public.
One of those dustups concerned the first song they released after the death of manager Brian Epstein in 1967. And it came down to which of the Lennon/McCartney songwriting pair was going to get the A-side.
Goodbye, Brian
For most of 1967, The Beatles rode an incredible wave that carried them to heights that few artists have ever experienced. Before the summer was over, they had delivered a spellbinding two-sided single (“Strawberry Fields Forever”/”Penny Lane”), a masterpiece album (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), and an acclaimed worldwide performance of a song (“All You Need Is Love”) perfectly timed for the occasion.
But then fate intervened to put the brakes on the nonstop good vibes. Brian Epstein, the manager who brought the band from obscurity to the pinnacle of stardom, was found dead in his London home on August 27, 1967.
Source: americansongwriter.com
Neil Aspinall’s name is not one commonly heard when talking about the purported “fifth” Beatles that were close to the Fab Four. Many consider the band’s manager, Brian Epstein, to be a fifth Beatle. Others consider producer George Martin and collaborator Billy Preston to be fifth Beatles.
However, Aspinall played an important role in The Beatles’ rise to fame and subsequent management of their legacy after they disbanded in 1970. And Aspinall passed away on this day, March 24, 2008, at the age of 66. Let’s look back at the legacy of one of the movers and shakers who helped make The Beatles the biggest band of the 20th century. Remembering Neil Aspinall’s Work in the Wake of The Beatles’ Breakup.
Neil Aspinall was born on October 13, 1941, in Prestatyn, Wales. Shortly after the early iteration of The Beatles formed, Aspinall formed a friendship with original Beatle Pete Best. Once the band started to get more successful, traveling by bus to gigs was no longer doable.
So, they contracted the help of Aspinall and hired him as a part-time road manager. He would drive a grey Commer van and take the band around town from gig to gig.
Aspinall was there when the band fired Best, when they hired Ringo Starr, when they blew up into massive fame, and when they inevitably broke up. His dedication to The Beatles was really something to behold. In the early years, he would work closely with Brian Epstein and relay information about concerts to the band.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy were in a world of their own as they enjoyed a romantic beach day in St. Barts on Sunday.
The musician, 83, and his wife, 66, who are regular visitors to the Caribbean island, enjoyed a passionate kiss during a dip in the ocean.
Nancy couldn't keep her hands off her Beatles legend husband, pulling him in for hugs as they cooled down with a swim. The American businesswoman was well protected from the sun in a brown, long-sleeve swimsuit teamed with a wide-brimmed sun hat and shades.
Sir Paul donned a navy swim top and patterned shorts, beaming as he enjoyed the beach day with his wife of 15 years. Paul and Nancy got married in 2011 after meeting in 2007 and both have children from previous relationships.
Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy were in a world of their own as they enjoyed a romantic beach day in St. Barts on Sunday. The musician, 83, and his wife, 66, who are regular visitors to the Caribbean island, enjoyed a passionate kiss during a dip in the ocean.
Source: dailymail.co.uk/Joanna Crawley
Paul McCartney has once again reflected on the breakup of The Beatles, one of the most analyzed episodes in music history. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the British artist acknowledged that John Lennon's decision to leave the group was "a great shock, very traumatic, a drama", marking a point of no return for the band.
Although Yoko Ono has been blamed for the breakup over the years, McCartney now qualifies his view. "When John met Yoko, that was the end of the Beatles," he admits, but adds that over time he has come to understand that relationship better: "In time it's easier to accept that they fitted in very well." According to him, the connection between the two went beyond the personal and responded to an artistic affinity: "She fitted completely with that experimental thing."
Paul McCartney on The Beatles' breakup: "I have absolutely nothing against it". The musician recalls how the meeting between Lennon and Ono took place at the Indica Gallery in creative 1960s London: "That's how John met Yoko... He went to see her. They met." Nevertheless, he acknowledges that her presence altered the internal dynamics of the group. "It was disturbing because it would separate the Beatles," he says, recalling moments of bewilderment such as when "she was sitting on one of the amps."
Source: marca.commarca.com/Blake Reynolds
While the Beatles were certainly no strangers to alcohol, it appears that their backstage beverage of choice may not have had any booze in it. In a 1965 story for Playboy, journalist Jean Shepherd joined the Beatles for a stretch of shows in the UK, and often spent time with them in the dressing room. Every stop felt the same, he wrote, with the dressing rooms themselves having the same food items at every stop, including trays of French fries, steak, and pots of tea.
The lads were often seen enjoying a cuppa, so much so that there's even a zine, The Teatles, dedicated to compiling photos of them with tea. Comedian and Beatles historian Martin Lewis also found that tea just so happened to be the drink the Beatles mentioned the most in their lyrics. In fact, according to Lewis's study, the band wrote a total of five songs referencing tea in a span of just three months.
It makes a lot of sense that the Beatles would drink so much of it — they were as British as you could get, and tea is an integral part of their culture. While it isn't clear what specific tea they kept in their dressing rooms, odds are it was a type of black tea, since 71% of Brits prefer it over herbal or green teas (via World Tea News). Drinking black tea every day comes with numerous health benefits, so it's nice to know that the Fab Four likely always had access to it on the road.
As if needing pots of it backstage wasn't enough to prove the Beatles' appreciation for tea, Paul McCartney and John Lennon's friendship involved a fairly unusual experience with it. During an appearance on Aspen & Co. in 1984, McCartney shared a little about their oddball ritual of smoking tea leaves.
"We'd go to my house when my dad was out at work, and we'd just sit around in the front parlor of my house and smoke Typhoo tea in my dad's pipe," McCartney said. Typhoo is a British tea brand that's been around since 1903. "We were teenage fools, and we wanted to sit at home and do big grown-up things. So, I found my dad's pipe, and then we didn't have anything to load it with, so we got the Typhoo out."
Source: yahoo.com/Marco Sumayao
While Anna Sawai has been busy conquering TV and film, the Emmy-winning “ShÅgun” star first got her start in show business as a member of the J-pop band FAKY. Now, Sawai is going back to her musical roots in the role of Yoko Ono in Sam Mendes’ forthcoming “Beatles” biopics.
“It was my dream to tell her story and I didn’t think it would come this quick,” Sawai told Variety at the Los Angeles premiere of Apple TV’s “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” Season 2 on Thursday night. “There’s a version of her I feel people still don’t understand. And in this film, I think we’re going to be able to tell that side of the story.”
To prepare, Sawai has been busy reading everything she can about the artist and musician. “So much reading, oh my gosh,” she said. “So many books, so many videos, so many articles…She has so much artwork that also shows her personality.”
While on set in London, Sawai teases it’s been fun to hear the cast — Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr — play the iconic band’s music. “They’re not even looking at the sheet music anymore. They can just play it off and sing it, and it really sounds like the Beatles to me. It feels surreal.”
Source: variety.com/Payton Turkeltaub
The Irish actor opened up about the effect of the harsh comments. Barry Keoghan has said he ‘doesn’t want to go outside’ after remarks about his looks. The Irish actor, who will play Ringo Starr in the upcoming Beatles' biopic, has been faced with harsh comments about his looks over the past couple of years.
Keoghan has opened up about the harmful effects such comments has had on him personally, admitting it has made him 'shy away'. Keoghan firstly acknowledged the 'good side' of fame, highlighting his 'incredible fanbase', however he added that 'there is also a nasty side of it'. He said he has received 'a lot of abuse' over his looks and tried to remove himself from online.
"I think I removed myself from online, but I'm still a curious human being that wants to go on and, if I attend an event or if I go somewhere, you want to see how it was received. And it's not nice," he said. The Saltburn star continued: "There's a lot of hate online. It's a lot of abuse of how I look.
"It's made me really go inside myself, not want to attend places, not want to go outside. "And I say this being absolute pure and honest to you. It's becoming a problem."In 2024, following his split from pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter, Keoghan deleted his Instagram account due to what he dubbed 'disgusting commentary' about his appearance.
At the time, he wrote: "I need you to remember he has to read ALL of this about his father when he is older.
Please be respectful to all. Thank u x."
Source: joe.ie/Ava Keady
John Lennon's songwriting and Beatles legacy form the foundation of his cultural impact. "Strawberry Fields Forever" tops recent rankings, praised for its production and experimental sound. The song’s inspiration stems from Lennon’s Liverpool childhood and personal struggles.
John Lennon is famous for many reasons. His songwriting genius, his activism, his enduring cultural impact. But his rise to fame with The Beatles is the foundation on which everything was built.
In 1956, Lennon founded the Quarrymen, described as a skiffle group. Four years later, the band composed of Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, solidified their core, changed their name, and never looked back.
With Harrison contributing to the Fab Four‘s songwriting further into their meteoric career, and two songs coming from Starr, most of the writing was shared by Lennon and McCartney. But for our purposes here, we’re focused on the masterworks that sprung from the heart, mind, and soul of the bespectacled, shaggy-haired rock pioneer.
In a recent roundup published by Uncut, the team, including Paul Weller, guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of The Jam, picked 30 songs from the music legend’s discography, and the results range from “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy),” “Dear Prudence,” and “Across the Universe,” to “Revolution,” “Imagine,” and “Give Peace a Chance.”
Source: parade.com/DeAnna Janes
