There have been various theories about how The Beatles broke up – and whether it was Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney or John Lennon who was responsible.
The Beatles break-up is a moment that has gone down in music history. The four musicians from Liverpool, U.K., were part of the biggest band the world had ever seen – until everything ended. For years, fans have dissected what happened, wondering whether it was the pressure of fame, group disagreements, or even John Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono, behind the split. The band members have also given their views over the years, including Paul McCartney, who has opened up a number of times about what happened. In October 2021, McCartney said the first person to announce they wanted out of the group was Lennon. Speaking in a candid interview with BBC Radio 4, McCartney also alluded to his own legal battle with his fellow band members, which has been named as another nail in The Beatles’ coffin. McCartney said: « I had to fight and the only way I could fight was in suing the other Beatles, because they were going with Klein. And they thanked me for it years later. « But I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny coming in one day and saying ‘I’m leaving the group’. » Newsweek looks at the various moving parts which led to The Beatles’ split over the years before their break-up in 1970. Before there was talk of a split, The Beatles members had grown tired of touring due to the relentless excitement of fans. This fame was known as Beatlemania. It consisted of many fans screaming throughout the group’s performances until the noise was so loud, the musicians could not even hear themselves playing. In 1966, this led them to retire from live performance altogether, with drummer Ringo Starr saying in The Beatles Anthology: « I never felt people came to hear our show. I felt they came to see us. » Their final live performance took place on a rooftop at their Apple Corps offices in London in 1969. However, the Beatles’ final paid concert was on August 29 1966 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. The year after their Candlestick Park performance Brian Epstein, the band’s manager, died of an accidental drug overdose. Throughout the years preceding, Epstein had fought fires within the band when musical differences threatened the peace. Reflecting on the death of their former manager, Lennon told Rolling Stone in December 1970: « I knew that we were in trouble then.
