JamesG
10-11-2021, 03:27 PM
Paul McCartney Says John Lennon "Instigated" The Beatles Breakup
October 10, 2021
Paul McCartney is finally opening up about The Beatles' breakup, saying John Lennon was behind the group's dissolution.
"I didn't instigate the split. That was our Johnny," McCartney says in an upcoming episode of BBC Radio 4 series "This Cultural Life", set to air on Oct. 23, according to The Guardian's Sunday Edition, the Observer, which published excerpts from the interview on Sunday.
Reps for McCartney and BBC Radio 4 didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment on Sunday.
The Liverpool-bred star calls the 1970 breakup of his childhood group the "most difficult period of my life," telling the radio show, "This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue."
In the new interview, McCartney dishes on Lennon's departure after being asked about his decision to pursue a solo career. "Stop right there," he reportedly tells "This Cultural Life". "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?"
Adding to the confusion over who caused the split was a reported directive from their new manager Allen Klein not to say anything. "So for a few months, we had to pretend," McCartney explains. "It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles but we couldn't just walk away."
McCartney says he decided to "let the cat out of the bag" because he was "fed up of hiding it." Things got worse after the band's breakup, with McCartney going on to sue his former bandmates in December 1970.
(According to the Telegraph, a judge agreed with McCartney's argument and legally divided the band.)
"I had to fight and the only way I could fight was in suing the other Beatles because they were going with Klein. And they thanked me for it years later. But I didn't instigate the split," McCartney says.
"That was our Johnny coming in one day and saying 'I'm leaving the group.'"
https://ew.com/music/paul-mccartney-john-lennon-instigated-the-beatles-breakup/
October 10, 2021
Paul McCartney is finally opening up about The Beatles' breakup, saying John Lennon was behind the group's dissolution.
"I didn't instigate the split. That was our Johnny," McCartney says in an upcoming episode of BBC Radio 4 series "This Cultural Life", set to air on Oct. 23, according to The Guardian's Sunday Edition, the Observer, which published excerpts from the interview on Sunday.
Reps for McCartney and BBC Radio 4 didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment on Sunday.
The Liverpool-bred star calls the 1970 breakup of his childhood group the "most difficult period of my life," telling the radio show, "This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue."
In the new interview, McCartney dishes on Lennon's departure after being asked about his decision to pursue a solo career. "Stop right there," he reportedly tells "This Cultural Life". "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?"
Adding to the confusion over who caused the split was a reported directive from their new manager Allen Klein not to say anything. "So for a few months, we had to pretend," McCartney explains. "It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles but we couldn't just walk away."
McCartney says he decided to "let the cat out of the bag" because he was "fed up of hiding it." Things got worse after the band's breakup, with McCartney going on to sue his former bandmates in December 1970.
(According to the Telegraph, a judge agreed with McCartney's argument and legally divided the band.)
"I had to fight and the only way I could fight was in suing the other Beatles because they were going with Klein. And they thanked me for it years later. But I didn't instigate the split," McCartney says.
"That was our Johnny coming in one day and saying 'I'm leaving the group.'"
https://ew.com/music/paul-mccartney-john-lennon-instigated-the-beatles-breakup/