Latest Beatles News
A New York Times instant bestseller since its release on Apr. 8, the new John Lennon and Paul McCartney biography John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs follows the songwriting duo's relationship as songwriters, lyricists and bandmates in The Beatles. Author Ian Leslie drew from tunes, film footage and recordings to paint a picture of two musicians working together to create some of the greatest songs of the 20th century. Meanwhile, Lennon and wife Yoko Ono's son Sean Ono Lennon has shared the message he hopes people will take away from the new Lennon/Ono documentary One to One: John & Yoko documentary. "It's going to be very revelatory for everybody who sees it," Sean says. "I do think I know my parents pretty well," says Ono Lennon, who co-executive produced the film (along with Brad Pitt and others) and served as its music producer. "I knew about that time. It was only a couple years before I was born. My mother spoke about it a lot. I know a lot about their story, including (this time period), so I would not frame it that I learned something necessarily." Directed by Kevin Macdonald and distributed by Magnolia Pictures, One to One employs a montage-style collection of footage and sound recordings (some provided by the John Lennon Estate) to present Lennon and Ono primarily in their own words, without third-party narration. One to One premiered at the Venice Film Festival in Aug. 2024, also showing at the Telluride Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival before its IMAX rollout on Apr. 11. It opens wide in theaters starting Apr. 18 and will stream on the Max premium platform later this year. Ono Lennon has also finished work on a One to One soundtrack release slated for Oct. 9 (John's birthday) in several formats and packages. - Billboard, 4/21/25...... 
Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, 36 rare and early Paul McCartney photographs, many of which have just been rediscovered, will feature in a new Los Angeles exhibition set to open on Apr. 25 at Gagosian Art Gallery. The Rearview Mirror: Photographs, December 1963-February 1964 collection includes photos that were recently rediscovered by Sir Paul and have never been shown before, as well as some that were featured in his 2023 photography book Eyes Of The Storm. Following the exhibition, the photos, which are all signed by McCartney, will be going on sale, with expected prices ranging from $15,000 to $90,000 (£11,000 to £68,000). Proceeds will go to benefit efforts for those affected by the devastating California wildfires. A clip of McCartney reflecting on the collection can be viewed on YouTube, and the exhibition will run until June 21. - NME, 4/19/25...... In still more Beatles news, John Lennon's last autograph is currently up for auction on the gottahaverockandroll.com website. On Dec. 7, 1980 musician Willie Nile and Lennon were recording at The Record Plant studio in New York City when engineer Thom Panunzio called saying, "John broke a string on his guitar. Do you have any extra strings?" Willie did have extra strings and gave them to John. The next day Dec. 8, 1980 Willie and John ere again at the Record Plant recording. That evening when John was about to walk out the door of the Record Plant, Penunzio asked John for an autograph for his friend Karl. John mistakenly thought it was for the person who gave him the guitar strings the day before so John wryly signed a Record Plant tape sticker "To Karl, who strung me along, thanks John Lennon 1980." Lennon also drew a self-portrait caricature, and then left the studio by limousine at approximately 10:30 pm, arriving at his The Dakota apartment building at approximately 10:50 when he was shot dead. It would become the last autograph John Lennon would ever sign, and one of the most important autographs in rock and roll history. The autograph was previously sold for $72,000 in 2012. - Music-News.com, 4/20/25...... Producers of the new John Lennon documentary Borrowed Time have announced the film will receive its world premiere at London's Cine International Film Festival in May. The four-day event is taking place at the Karma Sanctum Soho Hotel in the capital from May 7 to 10 and will include the first screening of the biopic on May 9. The film's director Alan G. Parker will also be on hand for an exclusive talk after the screening. Borrowed Time is an ambitious new documentary that uses archive footage, never-before-seen interviews and eyewitness accounts to explore the final decade of the Beatle legend's life. The film's trailer was shared in February and can be viewed on YouTube. "Follow the legend as he evolves beyond The Beatles, creating revolutionary music and standing at the forefront of anti-war protests that would make him one of the most influential pop culture icons of all time," reads the film's official synopsis. "For the first time ever, the full story of how John and Yoko met is revealed and watch as the curtain is lifted on the 1981 comeback tour that never came to be," reads the documentary's logline. Meanwhile, another Lennon-related film project, One To One: John & Yoko, opened in UK cinemas on Apr. 11. The Kevin Macdonald-directed film explores the couple's time in New York City from 1971 to 1973. - New Musical Express...... 
Pete Best, the original drummer for The Beatles, has announced his retirement. The 83-year-old Best announced his retirement on X, with his brother Roag Best confirming that the drummer will no longer be performing as part of the eponymous Pete Best Band going forward. "Well what an absolutely wonderful ride we've had. However, everything comes to pass," Roag noted. "My brother Pete Best has announced today he is retiring from personal appearances and performing with the group. His daughter has informed me its due to personal circumstances." Pete himself acknowledged his retirement, reposting the original announcement and adding, "I had a blast. Thank you." Best's association with The Beatles began in the late 50s when The Quarrymen -- which was comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ken Brown -- approached his mother Mona to perform at her Liverpool venue, the Casbah Coffee Club. The Quarrymen evolved into The Beatles in 1960, and following brief stints with Tommy Moore and Norman Chapman, the group recruited Best as their drummer ahead of launching a residency in Hamburg, Germany in August of that year. After two years with The Beatles, Best was ousted by manager Brian Epstein in favor of Ringo Starr. Various stories have circulated as to the reason for Best's dismissal, though his alleged lack of ability, his chemistry within the band, and his purported attractiveness have since been raised as possible explanations behind his firing. Following his time with the band, Best performed with other bands including Lee Curtis and the All-Stars and The Pete Best Combo, which notably attempted to capitalize on Best's prior work by releasing an album coyly titled Best of the Beatles. Best later enjoyed a successful career in civil service, raised a family, qualified for early retirement, and made millions from the Beatles' Anthology One album, which featured 12 tracks on which he drummed. The Pete Best Band is currently scheduled to perform at the Liverpool Beatles Museum on Aug. 23, though it's currently unknown if Best's retirement from the band will impact the planned appearance. More info can be found at liverpoolbeatlesmuseum.com. - Billboard...... In other Beatles-related news, John Lennon's half-sister Julia Baird has said that an actor from Liverpool should play him in the forthcoming Beatles biopics, directed by Sam Mendes. Speaking to The Telegraph, Baird weighed in on her late brother's casting, in which it was recently announced that London-born actor Harris Dickinson (Babygirl) will play Lennon. "Yes, of course" she replied when asked if it should be a Scouser (a person from Liverpool) playing him. "No one else can get that Liverpool intonation. Nobody," she said. On the subject of being consulted about the movie, Baird replied: "[Mendes is] never going to ask me! I'm the last person he would want to talk to because then he can't make it up." Later in the interview, she described John Lennon as: "a brilliant older brother, very bossy -- a family trait." She does, however, regret his fame, given it led to his murder at the hands of fanatic Mark David Chapman in 1980. "To be John's sister is a privilege that I couldn't begin to describe to you. But given the choice I wish he'd never seen a guitar." When asked why, she replied: "Well, then he might have been an art teacher and he'd still be here." All four films -- one dedicated to each Beatle -- will premiere in Apr. 2028, in what Mendes describes as the first "bingeable moment in cinema." - New Musical Express...... Beatles fans have been voicing their opinions about the new cast of the upcoming biopics of Beatles members directed by Sam Mendes being shared. After months of speculation about Mendes' forthcoming film about the Fab Four, a series of announcements were made by the director at the end of Sony's CinemaCon on Mar. 31. For the most part, many fans are pleased with the new announcements, praising the cast for their acting ability and sharing their confidence that the help of the hair and makeup will help them resemble the original four. "This might be one of the greatest things I've ever seen," one user on X/Twitter responded to the news, while another added: "The Beatles, reimagined with this cast? I'm already in line for tickets." Others, however, were less convinced about the line-up for the films and took to social media to criticise the cast as looking too different from the real Fab Four. "In what world do you think that group looks like the Beatles, great talent, bad casting," one wrote. Another added: "Four famous men who look nothing like the Beatles star in the Beatles films!! Okay.." while a third chimed in: "The way none of them look like the ppl they r playing& . these r just four mid white guys trying to play four mid white guys." While some took an issue with the cast not resembling the original band members generally, some had more specific issues with the bill. This included a complaint at Sony for opting to "cast whatever popular actor is trending at the time and hope for the best", and a handful of comments about Harris Dickinson potentially being "too tall" to play John Lennon. "Harry Dickinson is too tall. Casting error," one stated, while someone else questioned why the actor chosen is less of a household name than his three castmates: "It's funny that they chose the least known actor to be John Lennon," they wrote. - New Musical Express...... 
At the end of a Sony Pictures CinemaCon presentation on Mar. 31 in Los Angeles, it was revealed that the "Fab Four" in the studio's upcoming Beatles series of films -- one each dedicated to John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr -- will be Harris Dickinson (as Lennon), Paul Mescal (as McCartney), Joseph Quinn (as Harrison), and Barry Keoghan (as Starr). In another blockbuster announcement, project director Sam Mendes revealed that all four films will arrive in Apr. 2028, though not at the same time. Sony Pictures head Tom Rothman added that the franchise will be titled The Beatles - A Four-Film Cinematic Event, and that the films will mark the first "bingeable moment in cinema." Mendes, who has not confirmed the order in which the four films will be released, confirmed that filming all four films will take over a year, but is confident for an Apr. 2028 launch. Mendes says he toyed with the idea of a Beatles mini-series but ultimately decided that "the story was too huge to fit into a single movie." Each of the four films will be told from the perspective of one of the four Beatles. It is also the first-ever film to be granted music rights to the Beatles' discography. The films were first announced back in Feb. 2024. Sony Pictures has also posted on X announcing the full cast. - New Musical Express...... In other Beatles-related news, a YouTuber named Ian Hartley has uploaded a rare studio recording of the '70s prog rock band Yes covering the Fab Four's "Eleanor Rigby" to YouTube. The intense cover of the 1966 Beatles classic is said to have been recorded by Yes and producer John Anthony at London's Polydor Studios in Feb. 1969. "This particular recording has never been publicly released before," Hartley noted. "Here is the first (failed) take of the ER run-throughs as recorded in raw form at the time. Apart from some speed correction, no remastering was done to the master tapes." The uploader added: "Depending on reactions to this, further such things might follow." There are three known takes of Yes recording "Eleanor Rigby" in the studio, according to the Yes Fans forum, but none have been released officially. The exact origins of the Hartley's Yes audio are not known. Back in 2009, however, Bonhams auction house in London listed a tape recorded with John Anthony on Feb. 14, 1969. This included three other songs: Yes' cover of Stephen Stills' "Everydays," their take on Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's "Something's Coming," and Yes' own composition "Dear Father." Yes released their self-titled debut album later in 1969 via Atlantic. None of the tracks known to have been recorded with Anthony made the final tracklist. However, versions of "Everydays," "Something's Coming" and "Dear Father" were featured as B-sides of Yes' first three single releases. At the time of writing, the Yes's "Eleanor Rigby" cover has been streamed on YouTube over 8,000 times. - NME, 3/31/25...... On Mar. 27, London's legendary Abbey Road Studios celebrated its recent extensive restoration with an event called Synergy In Motion, which combined contemporary dance and music in a unique event. The choreography was helmed by Royal Ballet choreographer Joseph Toonga and set to the film scores of composer Daniel Pemberton (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), remixed and arranged by Jordan Rakei, Abbey Road's Artist in Residence. The studio has now reopened and is in operation for recording sessions. Abbey Road Studio One is described by the northwest London studio as "world's largest purpose-built recording studio," and can comfortably host 100-piece orchestras. The room is primarily used for the recording of classical and movie scores, with the soundtracks to a number of blockbusters having been recorded in in the space, including much of John Williams' movie canon, such as Raiders of The Lost Ark, Star Wars: The Return of The Jedi, as well as the Harry Potter movies. The premises was first built as a residential townhouse in 1831, and was converted into a recording studio a century later, reopening as EMI Studios in 1931. A number of classical greats including Edward Elgar and Sergei Prokofiev recorded there; in 1958, Studio Two was opened, with a number of influential acts like The Beatles and Pink Floyd recording in the space. The studio is currently owned by Universal Music imprint Virgin Records. - Billboard...... 
A Vancouver, B.C. record store owner has discovered he that he bought, unbeknownst to himself, a rare and unknown Beatles recording from 1962. A few years ago, Rob Frith of Neptoon Records bought a reel-to-reel tape labelled "Beatles demo." But he didn't bother to actually listen to it; he just assumed someone had put a Beatles bootleg on the tape. Recently as he was transferring some tapes at broadcaster Larry Hennessey's recording studio and brought along the Beatles tape. "All of a sudden, it was like the Beatles are in the room playing," he said, a sense of astonishment still in his voice. "The quality was that good." Turns out, it really was a Beatles demo -- a legendary session they recorded on Jan. 1, 1962, for Decca Records. Decca rejected the band, which is arguably the biggest mistake in music history. Instead, EMI signed the Beatles a few months later and they became a worldwide sensation. The tape features the Beatles' original drummer Pete Best, not Ringo Starr. Most of the songs are covers like "Money," "To Know Him is to Love Him" and "The Sheik of Araby." But there are three original songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney: "Like Dreamers Do," "Hello Little Girl," and "Love of the Loved." Not all 15 recordings in the Decca session have been officially released, although it's been widely bootlegged. Five songs from the session were officially released on the Beatles Anthology I in 1995. Whoever sold the Beatles tape probably didn't know what it was: they didn't hype it to Frith. "I actually can't remember who I bought it from," Frith said. "I think it was an engineer that worked in Vancouver for years and years that was moving." Frith won't be able to legally reproduce the music on the tape for copyright reasons. But it has value as an artifact: a copy of the Decca sessions that once belonged to Beatles manager Brian Epstein, which had only half the recordings, sold for 62,500 pounds (about CDN$117,000) in 2019. - Canoe.com...... "Live Odyssey," described as "a celebration of the rich tapestry of British music... offering a unique experience for music lovers of all ages" through "a groundbreaking tribute to the sounds that shaped Britain," is set to launch on May 22 in the London borough of Camden. John Lennon's sister Julia Baird will be unveiling a multi-sensory immersive exhibit dedicated to the late Beatles member on its opening which "details the early years that shaped Lennon through to a life of stratospheric fame with The Beatles." "This is the brutally honest story of The Beatles legend by his sister Julia, who reveals the unorthodox childhood they shared, memories of their mother, renewed family bonds, and the many sides of John Lennon," according to a press release. Elsewhere in the exhibition, fans will move through six different rooms, each immersing guests in a different musical era and recreating the sights, sounds, and cultural moments that define each decade. Also included in the list of acts set to be represented are The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Sex Pistols, David Bowie, Oasis, Duran Duran, Radiohead, Coldplay, Adele and many more. Tickets for the experience are currently on sale, and a portion of sales will support the Music Venue Trust. - New Musical Express...... 
The first trailer for the upcoming John Lennon and Yoko Ono documentary One to One has been shared on YouTube. The two-minute clip opens with audio of Lennon calling someone named Howard, in which the woman on the other end begins to spell out the singer's name only to realize who she's talking to. "You're a member of the Beatles?" she asks. "That's right, yeah," Lennon answers nonchalantly. From there, the footage explodes into a collage of images of bombs falling in the Vietnam war and the couple preparing for a charity show as Lennon says, "good morning, folks. Have you had your breakfast yet?," accompanied by footage of the former Beatle having his bowl of morning cereal. The movie, directed by Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald, is a chronicle of the couple's new life in New York post-Beatles in 1972, following them as they move into an apartment in Greenwich Village and prepare for their "One to One" concerts, a two-show all-star charity event for children with special needs that they threw at Madison Square Garden in Aug. 1972. It was the only full-length performance by Lennon in the wake of the Fab Four's split two years earlier and in addition to the Plastic Ono Band it featured sets by Stevie Wonder, Sha Na Na and Roberta Flack, among others. - Billboard...... A two-hour Ringo Starr special, Ringo & Friends at the Ryman, is currently streaming on-demand on the Paramount+ channel for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers. The special, which premiered on Mar. 10 on the CBS network, celebrates the music and legacy of Starr through the lens of country music. The Beatles drummer brought his love of country to life with two concerts taped at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on Jan. 14-15. In an exclusive clip from Billboard on YouTube, Starr, with a little help from friends like Jack White, performs the Carl Perkins rockabilly classic "Matchbox," which the Beatles covered in 1964. Other "friends" in the special include Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Mickey Guyton, Jamey Johnson, Rodney Crowell, the War and Treaty, and Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, both of whom appear on Ringo's new album Look Up, a current country Top 10 LP. - Billboard...... In other Beatles-related news, Lady Gaga has revealed that the late John Lennon would be her dream collaborator. During a fan-led presser for her new album Mayhem, Gaga was asked by a fan was about her dream collaborator, dead or alive. "I think it would have been John Lennon. I think he had such a beautiful heart and I think that's one of my favorite things in like the history of music is when you don't just remember an artist for their music but you remember them for their heart," she said. In 2012, the "Born This Way"' hitmaker was awarded the Lennonono Grant For Peace by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono. She also performed a cover of "Imagine" at the opening of the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan back in 2015. Mayhem, Gaga's highly anticipated seventh album, arrived on Mar. 7. - New Musical Express...... 
Joey Molland, the guitarist and last surviving member of the Beatlesque '70s rock band Badfinger, passed away on Mar. 1 while surrounded by his longtime partner, Mary, his two sons and other family members, according to a post on Badfinger's Facebook page. He was 77. While a cause of death was not specified, Molland had faced ongoing health challenges in recent years, including a recent battle with pneumonia. "Thank you, Joey for keeping the band's music alive for so long and for being a friend to us all," the Facebook post read. The Welsh band Badfinger, originally known as The Iveys, was one of the first acts signed by The Beatles' Apple Records. Molland joined the group in 1969, after the recording of their debut album, Magic Christian Music, which featured the Paul McCartney-written hit "Come and Get It." The song reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1970. Molland's first album with Badfinger was 1971's No Dice, co-produced by Beatles road manager Mal Evans. The set featured two of the band's most iconic tracks: "No Matter What" and "Without You." The latter became a No. 1 hit after being covered by Harry Nilsson, with Mariah Carey also covering the tune later. Badfinger's main lineup of Molland (guitarist), Pete Ham (singer/guitarist), Tom Evans (bassist) and Mike Gibbins (drummer) recorded five albums together through 1974, producing hit singles like "Day After Day" and "Baby Blue" from 1972's Straight Up, both co-produced by George Harrison. "Baby Blue" was notably featured in the closing scene of the final episode of the TV series Breaking Bad in 2013. After the death of Ham, who died by suicide in 1975, Molland and Evans (minus Gibbins) reunited to revive Badfinger, with the guitarist taking on a larger role in songwriting and vocals for the albums Airwaves (1979) and Say No More (1981). Outside of his work with Badfinger, Molland contributed to Harrison's epic All Things Must Pass and The Concert for Bangladesh albums, and played guitar on John Lennon's 1971 classic "Jealous Guy" and Imagine's "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier." Throughout his career, Molland recorded music both as a solo artist and as a member of the band Natural Gas. In the early 1980s, he formed his own version of Badfinger, known as Joey Molland's Badfinger, and continued to tour with the act until the summer of 2024. Molland was the last surviving member of Badfinger's core lineup, following the deaths of Ham, Evans (who also died by suicide in 1983) and Gibbins, who passed away from a brain aneurysm in 2005. - Billboard......
 |  |
In other Beatles-related news, a piece of toast that was left behind by George Harrison in 1962 has been sold. The crust of the bread left over by the late Beatles legend was saved by a fan named Sue Houghton, who was 15-years-old at the time. According to the Daily Express, she preserved the bread on a scrapbook page alongside the caption: "Piece of George's breakfast 2-8-63." The date noted indicates that the bread was from around the time that the Fab Four made their return to Liverpool after seven weeks of touring. As reported by the New York Post, the fan had taken the remains from Harrison's plate after befriending his family and making a visit to their home. Her scrapbook also contained other memorabilia from Harrison, including fluff from under his bed and thread from his jeans. The bread was originally sold in 1992 when Houghton auctioned off her scrapbook for $1,600 (1,265) to fund home repairs. Now it has been reported that the leftover piece of bread has changed hands again, with memorabilia collector Joseph O'Donnell buying the piece of toast, although the price he paid has not been publicly disclosed. O'Donnell did, however, say that it has been preserved by being framed in UV-protected glass of museum standard. "It's a brilliant story that is both bizarre, historical and a story I'll continue telling friends, memorabilia collectors and fellow Beatles fans," he said. The NY Post also highlights that word of the swiped piece of toast has made its way over to members of The Beatles, and has become an inside joke to the members. In 1992 for instance, Harrison jokingly claimed that the toast couldn't have belonged to him in an interview with Vox.com, saying: "I ate all my toast! I never left any!" Harrison died in November 2001 following a battle with lung cancer at age 58. - New Musical Express...... Paul McCartney closed out the 50th-anniversary special of NBC's Saturday Night Live on Feb. 16 with a stirring performance of The Beatles' Abbey Road medley, "Golden Slumbers"/ "Carry That Weight"/ "The End." Sir Paul, who was a musical guest on the show in 1980, 1993, 2010 and 2012 and made cameos in 2006, 2013 and 2015, also previously appeared on SNL's 40th anniversary special. His performance with members of his touring band -- guitarist Rusty Anderson, bassist/guitarist Brian Ray, keyboardist Paul "Wix" Wickens and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. -- can be viewed on YouTube. In 1993, McCartney appeared in a skit with the late SNL cast member Chris Farley in which a starstruck Farley asked the Beatle legend "In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.' Is that true?," before being overjoyed when the artist said he thinks it is. Now some fans are speculating Macca's latest SNL performance was a nod to Farley. The skit can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard...... 
In other Beatles-related news, Ringo Starr has told Britain's Mojo magazine that he loves living in Los Angeles, where he has lived on and off since 1973. "When I first came to America and we landed in New York, I wanted to live in New York," said Starr, who was born and raised in Liverpool. "And then we want on tours around and we came to Los Angeles, I'd think, 'Uh ... maybe Los Angeles. No New York! Maybe Los Angeles. L ... A!' I just loved the atmosphere. I loved the light. I loved the heat." Despite this, Ringo says he's never been tempted to surf in the Pacific Ocean. "It took me seven years to go to the ocean. A limo took me down the Pacific Coast Highway. I got out the car, walked across the beach, put my feet in the water, turned around, walked back to the car and went for lunch." - Music-News.com...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, details of the forthcoming John Lennon documentary Borrowed Time: Lennon's Last Decade have been revealed. The film follows the legend as he evolves beyond The Beatles, creating revolutionary music and standing at the forefront of anti-war protests that would make him one of the most influential pop culture icons of all time. Musicians, journalists, and close friends of the man himself set the record straight on the truth behind many famous Lennon moments, brought to life by rare archive footage, including never-before-seen interviews. For the first time ever, the full story of how John and Yoko Ono met is revealed and the curtain is lifted on the 1981 comeback tour that, sadly, never came to be. Speaking on the upcoming release director Alan G. Parker said: "I am so excited to share Borrowed Time: Lennon's Last Decade with UK audiences. I've made a number of films, but this is the first one that feels personal. I never met John Lennon, but through his music he became the older brother that this bullied kid needed." Borrowed Time: Lennon's Last Decade opens in UK cinemas on May 2, with an exclusive Director's Cut available on the Icon Film Channel on the same day. Special Q&A events about the documentary are to be announced soon. - Music-News.com...... Performing a surprise concert at New York's iconic Bowery Ballroom on Feb. 11, Paul McCartney relived his Beatlemania days with several of the band's classic tracks and paid tribute to late bandmate John Lennon. McCartney, 82, announced the impromptu gig earlier in the day and, unsurprisingly, it swiftly sold out, with 575 lucky fans treated to a once-in-a-lifetime show. Sir Paul, backed by guitarist Rusty Anderson, guitarist and bassist Brian Ray, keyboardist Paul "Wix" Wickens and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. -- kicked off proceedings in style performing the 1964 Beatles hit "A Hard Day's Night," then dusted off his '70s band Wings' 1975 track "Letting Go," which he hadn't performed live in 11 years. 1966's Revolver track "Got to Get You Into My Life" followed, and other rarities included Wings' "Let Me Roll With It" -- which was last featured in his set at the iTunes Festival in 2007 -- alongside a jam of "Foxy Lady" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Elsewhere, Macca gave a stirring stripped-back acoustic performance of the tear-jerking Beatles tune "Blackbird." McCartney was amused to reminisce about the Beatlemania days when he heard a "Beatles scream" and demanded more shrieking from the "girls." "OK, let's get it out of the way. Girls, give me a Beatles scream," he quipped. Paul also paid tribute to Lennon when performing The Beatles' "final song," 2023's "Now And Then," which Lennon had penned in the 1970s and was finished with the help of AI. He said: "Let's hear it for John." After performing a three-song encore of "Golden Slumbers," "Carry The Weight" and "The End" from Abbey Road, the legend declared: "This has been a blast -- we've loo-ved it." McCartney was in the Big Apple to help NBC's Saturday Night Live celebrate its 50th anniversary on Feb. 16. The venerable comedy show announced on X/Twitter on Feb. 14 that musical performances by McCartney, Paul Simon, Cher, Sabrina Carpenter, Miley Cyrus, Lil Wayne and other famous acts will be combined with a three-hour primetime special which will feature various live sketches which will see both past and present SNL cast members, special guests, and retrospectives celebrating the show's 50th anniversary. The special will air 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC and simulcast on Peacock. - Music-News.com/Billboard/New Musical Express...... 
As part of the huge wave of releases for Record Store Day on Apr. 12, previously unreleased performances from John Lennon's post-Beatles final full-length solo concerts will be released on vinyl as Power To The People - Live At The One To One Concert, New York City, 1972. The special 180-gram yellow vinyl will feature performances by John and Yoko Ono' Plastic Ono Band, backed by the NYC group Elephant's Memory, from their pair of "One to One" benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City. John and Yoko played a matinee and evening performance to a total of 40,000 people on Aug. 30, 1972, to benefit children with special needs, and raised a whopping $1.5 million, with some of the money raised going to the Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, N.Y., which was infamous for its poor conditions. The historical event, two years after the dissolution of the Beatles, also saw performances by the likes of Stevie Wonder and Roberta Flack. Produced by the couple's son, Sean Ono Lennon, the four tracks have been remixed and re-engineered from the original multi-track tapes by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon. They include the previously unreleased performances of "Well Well Well," "Cold Turkey" and Yoko's "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For A Hand In The Snow)," while "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" has been newly remixed. The release is limited to just 5500 copies worldwide, and more info can be found on recordstoreday.com. Meanwhile, the One To One concerts are explored in great detail in the forthcoming film, One to One: John & Yoko. Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, Marley), the documentary is an expansive look at the 18 months John and Yoko spent living in Greenwich Village in the early 1970s and delivers never-before-seen material and newly restored footage of John's only full length, post-Beatles concert. The film will air on HBO in the US and will be available to stream on Max in late 2025. - Music-News.com...... 
Paul McCartney has paid tribute to the late "beautiful, sweet" UK singer Marianne Faithfull who passed away in London on Jan. 30 at age 78. The following day Sir Paul took to his official Instagram account o share a black and white photo of him alongside Faithfull, writing. "What sad news that Marianne Faithfull has passed away." He continued: "She came into my life in the Sixties and was a beautiful, sweet 17 year old who radiated innocent joy. Then through the years I was lucky enough to run into her and to become a life-long friend. It's very sad to think that I won't be meeting her again but my memories of our encounters over the years will always bring me joy. May god bless you Marianne and guide you in the next steps of your journey - Paul." Faithfull was a key figure in the 'Swinging London' arts and music scene in the '60s, becoming one of the leading female artists during the British Invasion era. She is remembered for hits including 'As Tears Go By' and for her roles on stage and screen, and also for her four-year relationship with The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. - New Musical Express...... Despite having starred in a Pizza Hut commercial back in 1995, Ringo Starr revealed he's actually never eaten pizza before during an appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Jan. 29. As part of his chat, host Jimmy Kimmel asked Ringo to set some rumors about himself straight, including the claim that the famous drummer had never eaten pizza. "I've never had a pizza," Starr confirmed, as the audience expressed their shock at the news. "Or a curry." "I'm allergic to several items," he continued. "With pizza, you don't know what you're putting in it half the time. Or the curry. So I'm strict with myself since it makes me ill immediately." "I used to think you had the greatest life, and now I realize mine is better," Kimmel joked in response. Added Starr: "Yours is better because you've had a pizza." In a 1995 Pizza Hut marketing campaign, Starr promoted the pizza chain's newly-introduced stuffed crust as part of a 30-second spot which saw him teasing a reunion from The Beatles. The ad's punchline sees Ringo joined by members of The Monkees instead ("Wrong lads," he quips), with all four musicians appearing to bite a piece of pizza -- crust-first. Ringo is promoting his 21sth studio album Look Up, which has debuted in the Top 10 on Billboard all-genre Top Album Sales Chart and at No. 27 on the Top Country Albums Chart. - Billboard...... 
In other Beatles-related news, Wings' classic 1975 set Venus and Mars will be reissued in a special half-speed master vinyl edition to mark its 50th anniversary. The original version of the LP arrived ahead of Macca and co's legendary "Wings Over The World" tour, and was preceded by the US Number One single "Listen To What The Man Said". Additionally, the album featured "Letting Go" -- a fan favorite in McCartney's solo live set to this day. The album peaked at No. 1 in the US and UK, and went on to sell over four million copies worldwide. The 50th anniversary vinyl edition was cut at half speed using a high-resolution transfer of the original master tapes from 1975 by Miles Showell at the historic Abbey Road Studios in London. The 50th anniversary edition Venus and Mars is set for release on Mar. 21, and the album will also arrive in Dolby Atmos on streaming sites for the first time, newly mixed by Giles Martin and Steve Orchard. The reissue marks the first scheduled Wings release of 2025, following the theatrical release of the film One Hand Clapping and its accompanying 1974 live-in-studio album in 2024. Wings also shared a five-decade edition of their 1973 third album, Band On The Run, in early 2024. In December, McCartney teased that he hoped to finish a new solo album in 2025. - New Musical Express...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, pop sensation Robbie Williams has tied The Beatles' record for the most UK No. 1 albums with his latest album Better Man. The original soundtrack to his acclaimed Michael Gracey-directed biopic, Better Man is currently at the top of the UK's Official Albums Chart, drawing level with The Beatles' 15 UK No. 1's. - Music-News.com...... After the British government expressed support for a policy that would allow tech companies to use creators' works to train AI models unless creators specifically opt out, Paul McCartney says the proposed AI copyright law could "rip off" artists. In an interview with the BBC set to air on Jan. 26, Sir Paul warned that the proposal could "rip off" artists and lead to a "loss of creativity." "You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don't own it, and they don't have anything to do with it. 
And anyone who wants can just rip it off," McCartney, 82, said. "The truth is, the money's going somewhere Somebody's getting paid, so why shouldn't it be the guy who sat down and wrote 'Yesterday'?" In late 2024 the UK government, currently controlled by the Labour Party, launched a consultation to explore how copyright law can "enable creators and right holders to exercise control over, and seek remuneration for, the use of their works for AI training" while also ensuring "AI developers have easy access to a broad range of high-quality creative content." But McCartney maintains that it's the government's job to protect the people. "So you know, if you're putting through a bill, make sure you protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you're not going to have them," he said in the interview. The Beatles' final song, "Now and Then," released in 2023, utilized a form of AI called "stem separation" to help surviving members McCartney and Ringo Starr clean up a 60-year-old, low-fidelity demo recorded by John Lennon, making it suitable for a finished master recording. In early 2024, around 200 musicians signed an open letter directed at tech companies, digital service providers and AI developers. The letter criticized irresponsible AI practices, calling it an "assault on human creativity" that "must be stopped." - Billboard...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, Ringo Starr's new country album Look Up has debuted in the Top 10 on Billboard all-genre Top Album Sales Chart for the week of Jan. 25. The 11-song album, recorded in Nashville and produced by T Bone Burnett, was released Jan. 10 and reached the No. 7 position on the chart in its debut week. It also opens at a career-best No. 27 on the Top Country Albums Chart, marking Ringo's second entry on the list, and at No. 12 on Americana/Folk Albums Chart. - Billboard...... Ringo Starr celebrated the release of his new country album Look Up with two concerts at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15. Each show featured Starr welcoming a star-studded lineup of his fellow music luminaries, including Sheryl Crow, Jack White, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, The War and Treaty, Jamey Johnson, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Mickey Guyton, Sarah Jarosz and Larkin Poe. Legendary producer/musician T Bone Burnett, the producer of Look Up, hosted the show, welcoming artists throughout the evening, as some performances featured artists in collaboration with Starr, while other performances featured the evenings guest offering solo performances. "I feel blessed tonight, with all these great players coming out," Starr told the audience, as he performed a selection of songs from Look Up with the other musicians. The show concluded, appropriately, with an all-star singalong of The Beatles classics "Yellow Submarine" and "With a Little Help From My Friends," which saw additional artists join Starr onstage, including rock and country music trailblazer Brenda Lee (the Beatles once opened for Lee back in the 1960s, prior to the Fab Four's breakthrough). - Billboard......  |  |
Ringo Starr released his new country & western-themed album, Look Up, on Jan. 10 via Lost Highway/UMG Nashville. Produced by T Bone Burnett, the set is Starr's first full-length album in six years after releasing a series of EPs. "I did love country music before I was in the band," says the former Beatles drummer, who tried to move to Texas when he was 18 because of his fondness for country and blues music. "We got plenty of it in Liverpool, because the lads who were in the merchant navy would bring not only rock and roll over, but country -- and when country bands went on tour in England, they always played Liverpool." With Ringo singing lead, the Fab Four famously remade such country hits as Buck Owens' "Act Naturally" and Carl Perkins' "Honey Don't," and in 1970, Starr's second solo LP, Beaucoups of Blues, was a country album he recorded in Nashville with noted country producer/musician Pete Drake, famous for his work with Tammy Wynette, Bob Dylan and Charlie Rich. Burnett recruited leading Americana, folk and bluegrass music artists including Alison Krauss, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Larkin Poe and Lucius to appear on Look Up, many on multiple tracks. Look Up's first single, "Time on My Hands," features classic country elements of heartbreak and lost love over an aching pedal steel, but like many Ringo songs -- and as reflected in the album's title -- it ends on a positive note. "If you listen to a lot of my songs, not only the country but the pop songs, the last verse is always an up," Starr says. "That's what I want to present -- there's a break in the clouds and the light comes through." - Billboard...... As former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away on Jan. 29 at age 100, was memorialized at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9, country stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood paid tribute to the nation's 39th commander-in-chief with a moving cover of John Lennon's 1971 homage to peace, "Imagine." Brooks played the song's iconic melody on an acoustic guitar, singing, "Imagine there's no heaven/ It's easy if you try/ No hell below us/ Above us, only sky," his voice echoing through the majestic 188-year-old Washington National Cathedral, which has hosted the funeral and memorial services for almost all of the 21 Presidents who've died since Congress approved its charter in 1893. The deliberate pace of the performance -- and the addition of a piano accompaniment -- appeared to move many of the dignitaries on hand, which included all the former living Presidents. Soon-to-be-ex-President Joe Biden bowed his head at one point as his successor, former President Donald Trump seemed to close his eyes briefly during the performance. "You may say I'm a dreamer/ But I'm not the only one," Brooks sang as wife Yearwood joined in, matching his vocals on the lines, "I hope someday you'll join us/ And the world will live as one." That final line was delivered as the couple looked into each other's eyes and held the moment for a beat, with Brooks leaning in to give Yearwood, his wife since 2006, a kiss on the cheek. In addition to the Brooks/Yearwood performance and a number of other moving tributes from Carter's family, the funeral included a eulogy by Biden, who is less than two weeks away from the end of his term, after which he will be replaced by twice-impeached former President Trump. After the funeral, Pres. Carter's body will be flown back to Georgia for a private family funeral before he is buried on the grounds of his home in Plains next to his late wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter. Footage of the "Imagine" performance has been shared on YouTube. - Billboard...... 
In a new interview with the UK publication The Guardian, John Lennon's eldest son Julian Lennon says he's "not part of The Beatles' "inner circle." With the recent resurgence of the legendary quartet's work, including Peter Jackson's Get Back (2021), David Tedeschi and Martin Scorsese's Beatles '64 (2024), and the 2024 restoration of Michael Lindsay-Hogg's 1970 film, Let it Be, Julian said he's often the last to know about any activity with the Fab Four's camp."It's news to me half the time. I'm not part of the inner circle -- I never have been," he admitted. "You have to realise that when Dad left, when I was between three and five (it was a bit of a process), it was just mum and me, and we had nothing to do with the Beatles or Dad. I visited him on the odd occasion but we were very much on the outside. I'm thankful that Sean and I get on like a house on fire -- we're best buddies and he tells me what he can, but things are pretty secret on the Beatles front." He continued: "[It's] extraordinarily strange but I'm not upset about it. I'd rather be excited and impressed by what they did and continue to do. As a fan, I'm just as curious as anybody else, although I do find myself going, 'how is it possible that there's another Beatles film?'" Julian also spoke about his photography work and his newest release, the coffee table book Life's Fragile Moments. Alongside discussions of how new music isn't on the cards just yet (a failed attempt to hit the late-night talk show circuit in 2024 left him "heartbroken"), Julian said he continues to "build up a body of work, a foundation that I can stand on, that nobody can take away from me." "And I continue to do so," he said. "It's not to show off, it's just to prove to myself that I can actually do this stuff. I'm not interested in fighting other people's opinions." Lennon recently took to social media in December to urge his followers to undergo regular doctor visits following an emergency surgery after a second skin cancer diagnosis. Just before the end of the year, on Dec. 30, Lennon updated his followers that he had received "the 'all clear'" from his doctors. - Billboard
|
|
|
