The Beatles 'reunited' at celebrity-filled wedding reception for an 'absolute rubbish' performance
Though they would reform for the Anthology releases a decade after this “absolute rubbish” performance, The Beatles did “reunite”.
At the wedding of Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd, three of the four Beatles got together to perform for the first time since their impromptu rooftop gig. Almost a decade on from their tumultuous split and Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison got back together on stage. Harrison, who had been married to Boyd, finalised their divorce in 1977 but remained a close friend. He would marry Olivia Arias in 1978, and remained with her until his death in 2001. But he still attended Boyd’s wedding, with Clapton and Harrison remaining friends despite the infidelities between them.
Clapton had written the hit track Layla for Harrison’s then-wife, while the so-called quiet one would begin an affair with Starr’s first wife, Maureen Starkey. Despite the messy personal relationship between the group, Starr, Harrison, and McCartney attended Clapton’s wedding and gave what would can be considered the last-ever performance of The Beatles.
Though they were missing John Lennon, the band would take to the stage of Clapton and Boyd’s wedding, where Mick Jagger and Elton John were also in attendance. Denny Laine from Wings was there too, and called the set “absolute rubish”.
Despite the lacklustre set, it would be the last time the three were on stage together and performing Beatles hits. They played Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Get Back, and Lawdy Miss Clawdy. A recording of Something, allegedly played at the wedding, is linked below. Lennon was absent from the wedding for unknown reasons.
Laine was also a part of the jam session at the wedding reception, but does not view it as a reunion of The Beatles. Instead, he believes it was just a collection of “people I knew,” including Clapton, who Laine had knwon when the Derek and the Dominos guitarist was a member of The Yardbirds.
Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow
