The Beatles disbanded in 1970
Paul McCartney has set the record straight about his involvement in The Beatles breaking up 50 years ago. In an interview set to air during a BBC Radio 4 interview series This Cultural Life later this month, McCartney says it was John Lennon who instigated the breakup.
“I am not the person who instigated the split. Oh no, no, no. John walked into a room one day and said I am leaving the Beatles. Is that instigating the split, or not?” McCartney says during an interview.
He continues, “I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny. This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue.
“The point of it really was that John was making a new life with Yoko. John had always wanted to sort of break loose from society because, you know, he was brought up by his Aunt Mimi, who was quite repressive, so he was always looking to break loose.”
The band was only together eight years when McCartney revealed to a journalist the band had parted ways in 1970. McCartney was held accountable ever since and even sued his former bandmates after being forced to keep quiet about the breakup.
“I had to fight and the only way I could fight was in suing the other Beatles, because they were going with [manager Allen] Klein,” McCartney shares. “And they thanked me for it years later. But I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny coming in one day and saying ‘I’m leaving the group.”
The news comes ahead of the Disney+ Original documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, directed by Peter Jackson. Because of the wealth of tremendous footage Jackson has reviewed, which he has spent the past three years restoring and editing, the limited series will be presented as three separate episodes. Each episode is approximately two hours in length, rolling out over three days, November 25th, 26th and 27th, 2021, exclusively on Disney+.
