The Story Behind the Beatles’ Breakup: What Really Happened?

The Fab Four were the biggest band of the 1960s, if not the entirety of the 20th century. They pushed through their career as a band for seven years (give or take) before ultimately calling it quits (officially) in 1974, though the band was done with long before that year. Many would say that The Beatles had gone through their breakup by 1970.

So, what caused The Beatles to break up? Surely the Fab Four could have enjoyed another few decades of fame, considering their insanely massive popularity. Lesser bands have lasted longer. What happened?

Well, it’s complicated.

The Exhaustion Caused By Beatlemania

Live performances for The Beatles were very different from live performances for other bands. Beatlemania was a certified global phenomenon. Though, by 1965, the band started to see it as more of a pandemic.

George Harrison was allegedly the first to want to stop touring, but Paul McCartney was dead-set on maintaining an ongoing tour schedule. Eventually, the other two were sick of it too, and McCartney couldn’t help but agree: Live performances were exhausting and had become, at times, straight-up dangerous. After their 1966 tour of the US, they decided to retire from touring for good.

The Death of Brian Epstein

Brian Epstein was a manager and mediator (and some would say babysitter) for The Beatles for a very long time. He was a strong presence that served as the glue that held the band together.

Epstein suddenly passed away from a drug overdose in 1967, leaving the band bereaved and without any management experience. This would rattle the members and cause, for lack of a better word, chaos.

Paul McCartney Was Getting On Everyone’s Nerves

In the wake of Epstein’s death, McCartney took on a leadership role within the band. Unfortunately, the other three members were not happy about it. McCartney himself has even admitted to getting a bit domineering around that period of the Fab Four’s career. Though, John Lennon also said years later that he understood that McCartney was trying to do what was right for the survival of the band.

John Lennon’s Drug Use and Yoko Ono

Far too many Beatles fans love to blame the breakup of the Fab Four on Yoko Ono, Lennon’s wife. However, we think that falsely puts the responsibility of the end of an entire era of music on the shoulders of one woman, rather than the collective mistakes and airheadedness of four grown men. However, her presence was somewhat of a factor.

By 1968, Lennon was in the throes of heroin addiction and wasn’t exactly in a great place to be rehearsing or making music. Yoko Ono accompanied him to many of the band’s meetings and sessions, which wore down the nerves of the remaining band members.

Eventually, all of these things resulted in the somewhat anticlimactic collapse of The Beatles. All of the members had already kicked off their solo careers by the end of 1970, and the band was more or less done for good by then.

All the best things must come to an end; even if that end isn’t very pretty.

Photo Courtesy of Apple Corps Ltd.

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