Beatles News
Described inevitably, but correctly, as ‘a classic’, it’s pretty close to perfection.
That’s not so much because of the discreet studio, where a white grand piano currently takes pride of place, but because of the captivating, white-shuttered 18th century house which looks out, across a terrace arrayed with statues, to the Mediterranean – and which is even blessed with its own chapel, carved into the hillside above.
But, dream South of France property though it may be, I can reveal that Julian Lennon has decided to walk away from it – albeit for £22million.
That’s the price tag which musician, photographer and philanthropist Julian – only child of John Lennon’s marriage to his first wife, Cynthia – has put on the house which he’s owned for the past 25 years or so.
Described as a ‘passion project’, the four-storey house, which has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and numerous balconies, is the sort of architectural gem which could have appeared in a play by Noel Coward or a novel by Somerset Maugham, who memorably called the Riviera, his home for many years, ‘a sunny place for shady people’.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
During Monday’s (April 8) solar eclipse, a number of well-known hits surged on streaming platforms as Americans got into the spirit of the event. Plenty of songs that had some connection to the sun, or the moon, or, more specifically, eclipses, benefited from the special occurrence. One of the most successful from that day comes from the biggest bands of all time, and it’s way up in terms of plays on the top streaming platforms.
The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” gained massively on Monday as millions of Americans focused on all things related to the eclipse–even songs that weren’t really connected to the event. On that one day, the Fab Four’s track earned 656,000 plays on streaming sites, according to Billboard.
More than 600,000 streams in a single day is impressive. Given the fact that “Here Comes the Sun” is already more than half a century old, its performance is even more notable. The Beatles’ cut ranked inside the top 200 on Spotify’s U.S. chart on that day, beating out dozens of more current smashes.
Billboard states that when compared to the Monday before the eclipse, streams of “Here Comes the Sun” were up 58%. That’s a hefty gain, and one that could have real benefits for the band–even if the attention only lasted for one day.
Next week, “Here Comes the Sun” could return to one or two Billboard charts. It could find its way back to the Rock Streaming Songs ranking, which looks only at the most successful cuts on streaming sites like Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and others in the United States–and specifically those tracks classified as rock.
“Here Comes the Sun” ranked as The Beatles’ biggest hit on the Rock Streaming Songs chart until late last year. It peaked at No. 14 in April 2020–a time when people really needed some sunshine. In November 2023, the group’s first single in decades, “Now and Then,” brought them to the top 10 for the first time when it hit No. 5.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
The Beatles are, well, what can we really say that isn’t obvious? They are probably the biggest band ever. The Fab Four remain icons of music. Throughout their time together, the Beatles created a litany of indelible songs and massive hits. In fact, 20 different Beatles songs hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. And yet, that isn’t the end of the Beatles’ quality output. In fact, these are 30 great songs from the Fab Four that were never chart-toppers in the United States.
“All My Loving”
Interestingly, the Beatles (or their label, more than likely) didn’t go in too heavily on “All My Loving.” It was released as a single in Canada, becoming a number-one hit. Then, eventually, the Canadian single got imported to the United States, but that left it to peak at 45 in America, which is a real surprise.
Source: Chris Morgan/Yardbarker
We love a classic interview where someone famous either nails a future prediction or, better still, they fail miserably at it, so we can gently mock them. We've discovered one that definitely sits in the former camp, and it's with none other than Beatles legend George Martin.
Back in 1983, Martin had, of course, moved on from producing The Beatles and onto other projects including setting up AIR Studios in Montserrat – a fascinating story in itself, which we go into here. That didn't mean he would ever stop getting asked about the band though, but he was always more than willing to talk about them.
It was also the year Martin had written his book, Making Music: The Guide to Writing- Performing and Recording, a compilation of his own "little tricks of the trade" and those from a vast number of his contacts, from Adam Ant to Hans Zimmer. And it was this book that he was being interviewed about in the November issue of Home & Studio Recording.
Source: Andy Jones/musicradar.com
It was 54 years ago today when Paul McCartney put out a press release saying he was no longer working with The Beatles.
Despite this, Macca claimed it was John Lennon who broke up the band in 1970.
Speaking previously with BBC Radio 4, the 81-year-old said: “I’m not the person who instigated the split.
“John walked into the room one day and said, ‘I’m leaving The Beatles’ and he said, ‘It’s quite thrilling, it’s like a divorce.’
“And then we were there to pick up the pieces. I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny, coming in one day and saying I’m leaving the group.”
Hunter Davies, who wrote The Beatles’ only authorised biography during their career, backs up McCartney’s claim. According to The Times, he previously said: “Between 1966 and 1968, when I was hanging around them, it was clear that John had had enough. Of everything really: of his wife, Cynthia, of life, of the whole damn thing.”
Davies claimed Lennon would sit around idle for days, half-stoned and staring into space in total silence. Having become rich and famous, the restless star felt it was all the same and lacked meaning and purpose. But Lennon would find that in Yoko Ono. The biographer said: “The Beatles were dead. Yoko was his future. She mesmerised him and encouraged his dafter, wilder, madder projects.”
Source: George Simpson/express.co.uk
Sir Paul McCartney was "so embarrassed" when he tried to play lead guitar with the Beatles.
The 81-year-old music legend was part of the iconic rock group alongside John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr but explained when he tried playing lead guitar during an early gig instead of bass, he "totally froze" on stage.
Speaking on the 'Paul McCartney: A Life in Lyrics' podcast, he explained: "Mind you, when I first met John. He didn’t play guitar, ‘cause I had to show him guitar chords because he’d been taught by his mum [Julia], and she only knew banjo chords.
" We had this gig and it was like, the first thing I ever played, and I was lead guitar player. John was rhythm. And I had a solo and I totally froze. Could not move my fingers. … It was like, just so embarrassing. My lead guitar playing career melted at that moment and I said, ‘Well, I’m not doing this again. I’m not cut out for this. I’m no good."
The 'Hey Jude' singer provided most of the lyrics for the Beatles and was also co-lead singer alongside John and previously revealed he loves to spend time with his instruments and he even worries that some of them might feel "lonely".
Source: ttownmedia.com
Beatles legend Ringo Starr has announced a new single, "February Sky," from his upcoming EP, Crooked Boy.
Crooked Boy will be Starr's fourth consecutive EP and includes four original tracks - "February Sky," "Gonna Need Someone," "Adeline," and "Crooked Boy." All songs were written and produced by Linda Perry for Starr to make his own, adding vocals and playing drums.
The EP will be released on a limited-edition marble vinyl on Record Store Day on April 20. On April 26, it will be released digitally. Fans can pre-order the black vinyl and CD now, releasing on May 31.
After previously collaborating on two songs that appeared on earlier Ringo EPs, Linda approached Ringo and asked if she could produce an entire EP. That was the origin of Crooked Boy.
"Linda made me a great EP - she produced it in her studio and then sent me the tracks and I added the drumming and my vocals," Ringo said. "'February Sky' is great - very moody - but since Linda wrote these specifically for me - it of course has to have a positive peace & love element."
Source: rttnews.com/
Arguably no group in rock history has had a bigger impact than The Beatles.
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, a.k.a. The Fab Four, produced 19 No. 1 albums, scored 20 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the best-selling music artists of all time, per the Recording Industry Association of America.
Founding members McCartney and Lennon met in Liverpool, England, on July 6, 1957. That day, McCartney played with Lennon’s band, The Quarrymen, and they bonded over their love of songwriting.
"I turned round to him right then on first meeting and said, 'Do you want to join the group?' ” Lennon said of his bandmate in The Beatles Anthology. “And he said ‘yes’ the next day as I recall it.”
McCartney brought his school friend, Harrison, into the fold in 1958, according to Far Out Magazine. After The Quarrymen rebranded as The Beatles in 1960, the group went through several more early lineup changes — including the addition of Starr and brief tenures of bass player Stuart Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best. The Beatles released their debut album, Please Please Me, in 1963.
Proof of the band’s international success came on Feb. 9, 1964, when a record-breaking 73 million viewers tuned in to watch them perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. They went on to release 12 more albums and spawned hit after hit, including “Here Comes the Sun,” “Come Together,” “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude” and “Yesterday.”
The group won seven Grammys and was honored with titles as Members of the Order of the British Empire in 1965. In 2014, The Beatles were recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy.
Source: Nicole Briese/people.com
The final curtain will come down this summer on Cirque du Soleil's long-running show “The Beatles Love," a cultural icon on the Las Vegas Strip that brought band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr back together for public appearances throughout its 18-year run.
Cirque announced on Tuesday that the show housed at the Mirage will end on July 7, part of the iconic hotel-casino's major renovation plan to rebrand itself into the Hard Rock Las Vegas.
Stéphane Lefebvre, CEO of the Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, said in a statement that more than 11.5 million people have seen the show — an energetic portrayal of the Fab Four's history and music with aerial stunts and whimsical dance numbers on a colorful, 360-degree stage.
“We are grateful to the creators, cast, crew and all involved in bringing this show to life," Lefebvre said, "and we know The Beatles LOVE will live on long after the final bow.”
In a separate statement, Joe Lupo, president of the Mirage, thanked the Cirque performers and crew members working behind the scenes “who played a part in entertaining guests and bridged generations" for nearly two decades.
The production premiered in the summer of 2006, with red carpet appearances by both McCartney and Starr, as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, wife of the late Beatle George Harrison. They reunited a year later to celebrate the show's first anniversary.
According to Cirque, the show was born out of the friendship between its founder Guy Laliberté and Harrison, the Beatles' lead guitarist who died in 2001. John Lennon was killed in 1980.
Source: ny1.com
If watching the "Get Back" docuseries has made you crave more Beatles, then we've got good news: Paul McCartney is hitting the road for what he's calling the "Got Back" tour.
"I said at the end of the last tour that I'd see you next time. I said I was going to get back to you. Well, I got back!" McCartney said in a statement.
The 13-city U.S. trek, the first since his "Freshen Up" tour ended in 2019, launches April 28 in Spokane, Washington, and is set to wrap up June 16 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The tour marks McCartney's first-ever show in Spokane, as well as his live debuts in Hollywood, Florida; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina; as well as his first show in Baltimore since 1964 with The Beatles.
The outing also includes a May 2-3 stint in Seattle.
Tickets go on sale Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. local time.
Source: goodmorningamerica.com
