The story behind the Beatles’ split

One event, four words, and that was it—Paul McCartney crushed the hearts of millions of fans across the globe.

If you’re an avid fan of pop music, or even if you never were, you must have heard of the best band that ever lived—The Beatles. They were an English rock band that originated in Liverpool in 1960 and is regarded as the most influential band of all time.

No one ever imagined the band would break up the way it did. After eight years of redefining music and changing the course of popular culture, the Beatles died a strange, sudden death. Though their breakup can be traced to a number of factors, from the Beatlemania phenomenon strain to Manager Brian Epstein’s death in 1967 to McCartney’s domineering role, the bombshell came on the eve of Paul’s first solo album McCartney.

When asked by the press if he was planning a new album or single with the Beatles, Paul McCartney gave a rather shocking answer: ‘No’.  The next thing we saw was the front page of Daily Mirror reflecting the headline ‘Paul Quits the Beatles’ and boom, the media was on fire.

Everyone was shocked, including the Beatles themselves. They just couldn’t wrap their heads around the whole thing. Yes, a break-up was under way and they all knew it. But why would McCartney use the split to promote his new record?

Well, Paul had something to say about this ‘betrayal’. Like we would expect, he claimed he had not intended his release to be taken as announcement of a break-up. But then, the deed had already been done.