The women behind The Beatles: From Pattie Boyd to Yoko Ono The Australian Women's Weekly
The story of the feminine forces who inspired some of the greatest music of all time and more.
The Beatles are a pop culture phenomenon that will unlikely ever be touched by any musical opponent. They created countless songs that inspired other great artists and still live and breathe as freshly today as they did in the ’60s. From unbridled experimentalism and pushing artistic boundaries to crafting some of the best love songs of all time, they truly accomplished it all. But what about the women behind The Beatles?
The group might be portrayed as a tight-knit boy’s club, but it was far from the truth. Feminine energy played an undeniable role at every stage of The Beatles’ career from inspiring love songs to introducing them to new concepts and even shaping their image as a band. Here are all the women behind The Beatles.
English model and actress Pattie Boyd first met her soon-to-be husband, George Harrison, on the set of the 1964 promotional film, A Hard Day’s Night.
“On first impressions, John seemed more cynical and brash than the others, Ringo the most endearing, Paul was cute, and George, with velvet-brown eyes and dark chestnut hair, was the best-looking man I had ever seen. At a break for lunch, I found myself sitting next to him. Being close to him was electrifying,” Pattie would later recall of the fateful meeting.
Whilst Pattie eventually became George’s wife, inspiring songs like Something and I Need You (as well as an infamous rock love triangle with Eric Clapton), one of her biggest contributions to The Beatles is often overlooked.
It’s no secret that LSD played an integral role in The Beatles’ discography, but it was Pattie Boyd’s dentist, John Riley, who first introduced the band to it. The unassuming dentist laced John, Cynthia, Pattie and George’s coffees with the psychedelic during a dinner party in 1965.
Source: Georgia Weir/womensweekly.com.au
