Once in a blue moon, a cultural or historical event will happen that shakes our idea of what is and isn’t possible. The “unsinkable” Titanic’s tragic fate. Putting a man on the moon. From a purely pop cultural standpoint, The Beatles breaking up was another one of those “this will never happen” moments.
The Beatles were one of the first musical acts to make being in a band cool. This pioneering status, paired with just under a decade’s worth of chart-topping hits and international stardom, made the band’s official split in 1970 all the more jarring—to the public, anyway. The Beatles repeatedly said they saw the split coming, and John Lennon was no exception.
But what was a bit more surprising, perhaps even to the other Beatles, was a revelation that John Lennon spoke about three years after the Fab Four split for good.
What Caused the Beatles To Split, Anyway?
The answer to that question changes depending on who you ask and is, most likely, an amalgamation of several causal factors that blended into one another until the Beatles couldn’t take it any longer. But from a strictly legal, financial perspective, one of the most pressing reasons that the Beatles decided to break up was Paul McCartney’s unwillingness to have Allen Klein manage Apple Corps’ finances following the death of Brian Epstein.
McCartney didn’t trust Klein and wanted his father-in-law, Lee Eastman, to take Epstein’s place. The band outvoting McCartney and hiring Klein was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. Clashing egos, creative differences, a desire to explore outside of the band they had been in since they were teenagers and adults: all of these explanations came to a head in the final months of 1969 and early 1970.
Three years later, John Lennon reflected on the entire debacle during an appearance on Weekend World. “They’re always trying to pinpoint what happened,” he said. “Why The Beatles split up. Right? Well, The Beatles were splitting up themselves. Disintegrating is the word for it. I think the Klein-Eastman situation really pushed it over the hill.”
Lennon likened it to a toxic marriage that was headed for divorce. The couple would have found their way to the relationship’s natural conclusion no matter what the final nail in the coffin might have been. For The Beatles, it just happened to be the feud over Klein and Eastman.
John Lennon Admitted Paul McCartney Was Right
John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr continued to work with Allen Klein after the dissolution of The Beatles, but those professional relationships didn’t last long. Klein infamously “helped” Harrison with his monumental Concert for Bangladesh, but complex financial hangups and accusations of theft led to Harrison parting ways with Klein. Lennon was not long after, having heard that Klein prevented Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, from performing at the benefit concert.
In hindsight, Lennon admitted to Weekend World, “Paul’s suspicions were right.” Explaining his decision to terminate his contract with Klein, Lennon said, “The time was right. My position has always been the devil in the deep blue sea. At the time, I do whatever I feel is right.”
Lennon’s admission that his ex-bandmate was right after all left some Fab Four fans hoping the door was open for a reunion. While history would show that never happened before Lennon’s senseless killing in 1980, it was a touching moment of softness from Lennon, who, at the time, was arguably the most opposed to McCartney. There was a notable shift between the two musicians, and McCartney seemingly felt it, too.
One year after Lennon visited Weekend World, McCartney told Rolling Stone, “I could [write with John]. It’s totally fresh ground right now, ‘cause I just got my visa, too. About two or three days ago, and until then, I couldn’t physically write a song with John. He was in America. He couldn’t get out. I couldn’t get in. But now that’s changed, so whole new possibilities are opening up. Anything could happen. I like to write with John. I like to write with anyone who’s good.”
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