(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Sun 20 April 2025 23:00, UK
I’ve had some regrets in my life. A dodgy bike ride that left me without my front teeth is up there, while generally thinking about some of the clothes I wore in my teenage years is enough to conjure some feelings of toe-curling regret. But it’s nothing like throwing away an opportunity to be part of the greatest band in history, The Beatles.
Pete Best, the drummer that could have been, must undoubtedly have had some sleepless nights imagining the lengths he would have grown his moustache or what colour his military uniform would have been on the cover of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He was dismissed from the band in 1962 and replaced by Ringo Starr, in what many speculate to be a combination of mediocre ability and questionable character.
After the band had a string of gigs booked in Hamburg and was without a drummer at that point, they settled on Best via Paul McCartney’s recommendation. McCartney had seen him play in the Casbah Club with his own band, and his rather unremarkable style was put to one side due to the band’s desperation. Not being the best technician, Best still had a way with the crowd, and his performative potential intrigued the Fabs somewhat.
But it was ultimately what triggered members of the band, which was his popularity and lack of substance to back it up. “Pete had been an extremely popular Beatle, despite his ex-band mates’ misgivings about his drumming ability and his personality,” Starr recalled in Ringo: With a Little Help. He continued, “The group’s female fans, in particular, dug Pete’s brooding good looks.”
McCartney also claimed Best had a different sense of humour from the rest of the band, which ultimately drew them apart. But had his drumming ability been air-tight, you can’t help but think his personality flaws could have been overlooked, and the once-in-a-lifetime journey he would have embarked on with the band would have undoubtedly drawn them closer. So when Ringo took over and their best went stratospheric, Best, the drummer, must surely have questioned his choices and pondered over an alternative reality that existed off the back of his perseverance.
Either way, as the band went on to become historic icons, the question of money might have soon sweetened the bitter taste in his mouth. Of course, he never received any royalty payments for the albums they released after hiring Ringo, given the fact that he played no part in their writing or studio recording. But when the band released their compilation album Anthology 1 in 1995, Best’s accountant got to work. Because he had played drums on ten of the album’s tracks, including the Decca auditions, he received approximately $9million in royalties.
What did Pete Best do after The Beatles?
Swiftly after his dismissal from the band, Best joined Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, which soon became Pete Best and the All-Stars after Lee Curtis signed a record deal with Decca, ironically. The band soon rebranded to Pete Best Four and then the Pete Best Combo, touring the US, Europe, and Canada, and recording their own music, including the cheekily named 1965 record Best of the Beatles.
After grappling with mental health issues throughout the years, Best returned in 1988 with a newly formed group, the Pete Best Band, which continued his run of worldwide tours in the decades that followed.
But just this past month, Best announced his retirement from music at the age of 83. His brother Roag, with whom he shared the Pete Best Band project, wrote on X/Twitter: “Well, what an absolutely wonderful ride we’ve had. However, everything comes to pass. My brother Pete Best has announced today he is retiring from personal appearances and performing with the group. His daughter has informed me it’s due to personal circumstances.” Best reposted the message and simply wrote: “I had a blast. Thank you.”
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