John Lennon retaliates to the McCartneys post the famous Beatles break-up with a heated letter.
On February 9, 1964, the Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan show in what would become the night that revolutionised the face of music. They went on to become the best-selling music artists in America with 178 million certified units; gaining fame, fortune and millions of obsessed fans throughout the world.
But bigger the band; bigger the problems. Come autumn of 1969, in news that would rock the world, John Lennon crushed the hearts of millions of fans when he announced he would be leaving the band.
It may be 47 years since that horrid day but the sting still lives on in the hearts of fans throughout the world. Then again, what is 47 years when talking about one of the greatest rock bands in the history of all time!
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In light of the bitter, discordant nature of the band’s break-up; a private letter sent by John Lennon and Yoko One to Paul and Linda McCartney has recently surfaced on the internet. The draft appears to be a reply to a letter written by Linda McCartney, where she criticised his decision to not publicly announce his departure from the band. The letter begins with, “I was reading your letter and wondering what middle-aged cranky Beatles fan wrote it,” Lennon and Ono’s note begins. “I resisted looking at the last page to find out — I kept thinking who is it — Queenie? Stuart’s mother? — Clive Epstein’s wife? — Alan Williams? — What the hell — it’s Linda!”
Lennon then goes on to write about how Paul McCartney let fame go to his head. He says, “Do you really think most of today’s art came about because of the Beatles? — I don’t believe you’re that insane — Paul — do you believe that? When you stop believing it you might wake up! Didn’t we always say we were part of the movement — not all of it? — Of course, we changed the world —but try and follow it through — GET OFF YOUR GOLD DISC AND FLY!”
He even takes shots at Linda’s marriage, criticised the way Yoko was treated and points out how he is the one who started the Beatles, “Not ashamed of the Beatles — (I did start it all),” but points out what a struggle it was to deal with the consequences, saying, “some of the shit we took to make them so big.”
This two-page typed note with hand-written annotations by Lennon is already fetching nearly $30,000 from a Boston-based auction house. To check out the original letter, have a look below.
