Why did The Beatles break up? Was Yoko Ono really to blame? The end of the "winding road" ...

In April 1970, the world was shocked by the sad news: Paul McCartney announced that due to "personal, business and musical differences, the Beatles could not continue to exist". This date is considered to be the official sunset of the once legendary group... But! If you study the history well, it is easy to realise that the process of "decay" within the group started much earlier....

The birth of the Let It Be album - as marking the final...

In May of the same year, 1970, the band's last album "Let It Be" was released. A month before that, Paul's solo album "McCartney" was released. To this day, many historians believe that the disagreements around these two works were the reason for the split of The Beatles.

The thing is that McCartney wanted to return the band's creativity to the charming and light simplicity, the naive and pure primitiveness of the early compositions... But the legendary and now infamous producer Phil Spector intervened. Phil decided to embellish the tracks with a fancy orchestral mix. And... his intervention played a fatal role: in parallel with "Let It Be", an angry McCartney started working on his solo album.

 The other three band members, as well as EMI management, asked Paul not to release his solo album until "Let It Be" was released. Ringo Starr even visited McCartney in person, but was rudely kicked out of the door. Under other circumstances Paul would probably have made concessions... But Phil Spector's mixing was the last straw for him.

In his press release for the release of McCartney, the musician announced that the Beatles were no more.

Seeds of discord

Such a bold statement by a colleague made Lennon furious! He himself wanted to leave the band in the autumn of 1969, which he openly stated at a meeting with EMI management after the completion of "Abbey Road". His performance at the Toronto Rock Festival was a success! He wanted more... Lennon wanted freedom. He later said:

"I gave life to this band, and I was the only one who could end its existence..."

In fact, many events contributed to the breakup of the great band: the cessation of touring, the death of Brian Epstein - the band's manager, as well as creative differences between the members themselves. McCartney was more and more interested in modern pop trends, Harrison was in love with the music of India, and Lennon's creations were characterised by experimental nuances... Everyone wanted to move separately and independently, exclusively in their own creative direction. As a result, the Beatles' enthusiasm - as one cohesive team - waned.

If when working on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 1966 there was a spirit of camaraderie and respect within the group, then already on the recording of the "White Album" creative divergences were noticeable... And constant conflicts on this ground finally undermined the unity of the Liverpool four.

Is it Yoko Ono's fault?

Yoko Ono, a Japanese conceptual artist, became more than just a muse for Lennon... After recording avant-garde material in John's home studio, the pair were practically inseparable. Gradually Yoko became the "fifth" member of the band... Once she was not feeling well. Then Lennon organised a soft and cosy bed for her right in the studio! Of course, all this annoyed his bandmates terribly. Ringo Starr said in an interview:

"It was very unusual to see Yoko in the studio every day... We all had a northern English upbringing, something like, 'We mine coal and our wives cook dinner'. Yoko's presence was depressing... She was tearing our unity apart. We were a team, and we were against outsiders. And with the exception of John, she was an outsider to us... Before that, the studio united us, that's why we worked so well...".

Harrison soon became jealous of Lennon's lover. He was too attached to John, particularly after their joint experiments with LSD and Indian meditation.

Today, many Beatles fans blame Yoko for the breakup of the band, but band historian Kenneth Womack has a different take on the matter:

"The accusations against Yoko Ono are unfair. She never objected to the existence of The Beatles. Yes, she was a nuisance in the studio, but John's own drug addiction played a key role. The addiction reduced his productivity as a musician. From time to time, he had creative epiphanies! But they were short-lived... Again and again he returned to heroin, even after attempts to give it up completely...".

George Harrison's ambition ...

It is also possible that George Harrison's creative growth contributed to the band's split. While in the early years Lennon and McCartney were the main architects of the band's songs, at the turn of the 1960s Harrison's talent as a composer became more and more noticeable....

Starting from the mid-1960s, George composed more and more mature and high-quality compositions. But the aforementioned leaders continued to reject his work... Largely because of the increased competition: if two Beatles composers were quite satisfactory, there was no need for a third.

Of course, all this contributed to Harrison's alienation from the band... One day, when work on the final album "Let It Be" had already begun, Harrison flew out of the studio screaming:

"I'm washing my hands of this! You can look for a new guitarist!"

"If he's not back in a week, we'll call Clapton." - Lennon nonchalantly commented on his colleague's emotional outburst.

In fact, the band put an end to the history of its existence much earlier than 1970. All these conflicts, alienations, search for a creative vector - all of this played a big role. You can't say that Yoko Ono is to blame. Neither can you justify her... Unfortunately, it happens when geniuses working side by side for a long time get tired of shackles... Each of the legendary four wanted freedom. And the split of the collective was the only chance to get it....