Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Aaron Curran

Tragedy made John Lennon realise the Beatles were doomed

By the end of the 1960s, cracks were definitely beginning to show in the fabric of the Fab Four.

The Beatles would eventually split in 1970, after years of incessant arguing and creative disagreements. However, John Lennon once traced the beginning of the end to years before this.

Lennon felt the band's days were numbered from August 27, 1967, when Brian Epstein died. Epstein was the band's manager, and the man who discovered the Beatles down a dusty alleyway in Liverpool.

READ MORE: Mum buying 100 Lidl cucumbers 'barred' after manager runs over

He pushed them to change their look, replaced their drummer with Ringo Starr, and got them their first number-one singles. He was extremely close with every member of the band - particularly Lennon - so when he died in 1967 the Fab Four were devastated.

Epstein was found dead at his home aged 32. He suffered a combined alcohol and barbiturate overdose. The death was ruled accidental. Lennon spoke candidly about learning of Epstein's death, and what he felt it meant for the band.

Lennon told Rolling Stone: "I was stunned. I don’t know whether you’ve had it, but I’ve had a lot of people die around me and the other feeling is: ‘What can I do?'"

When his thoughts turned to the future of the band, he added: "I knew that we were in trouble then. I didn't really have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music."

Lennon then admitted that he was full of fear about the future of the band. He added: "I was scared, I thought: ‘We’ve fu***n’ had it.'"

The following year, the Beatles released their ninth album, The White Album, but this didn't help his worries at all. In fact, after The Beatles released The White Album in November 1968, Lennon felt as if the band was completely over, he announced: "We broke up then."

Lennon looked back on the vacuum of power left by Epstein and remembered how Paul McCartney stepped up to take his place. Lennon said: "Paul took over and supposedly led us, but what is leading us, when we went round in circles?"

A matter of months later, on April 10, 1970, The Beatles announced their split. McCartney announced in a press release that he was no longer working with the band. Legal disputes continued throughout the end of the year before the band members began working on their solo music.

Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here

READ NEXT

'Wolf of Old Hall Street' took his own life after being unable to escape money troubles

Couple stuck in deep freeze because they can't top up gas money

'Photie Man' captured characters from 80s and 90s Liverpool

Chief Inspector joked about 'secretive' meetings with criminal suspect in texts seized after stabbing

Dying mum's final words to son after he stabbed her in the heart

Aldi shoppers 'very impressed' with 'powerful' SpecialBuy vacuum

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.