“A disaster”: Elton John’s predictions on how a Beatles reunion would’ve panned out
Musical reunions are virtually unavoidable within the landscape of modern music. There is scarcely an arena or music festival line-up that does not feature a reformed band that initially split up years ago. However, the idea of reunions is far from being a modern invention. For as long as bands have been splitting up, there have been those putting pressure (and copious amounts of money) on them to reform—particularly in the case of The Beatles.
When The Beatles finally split up in 1970, it sent shockwaves through the music industry. After all, the Fab Four were the biggest pop sensation the world had ever seen at that point; it is difficult to pick out anybody who has overshadowed them in the intervening 50 years either. With countless number-one singles and smash-hit albums under their belt, the Lennon and McCartney songwriting partnership was a musical cash cow that felt as though it would never run dry.
Inevitably, though, tensions between the bandmates grew too much to handle, and the line-up fell apart during the recording of Let It Be. Soon, the respective members would divert their attention to solo careers, some of which were more successful than others. Nevertheless, it seemed as though John, Paul, George, and Ringo were all relatively happy to set out on their own, exploring their own musical interests and desires without having to justify anything to the rest of the band. It was not long, however, before the calls for reunification came.
Despite the brilliance of their respective solo careers, the individual members of The Beatles could hardly step outside their houses during the 1970s without being questioned on the possibility of a Beatles reunion. Although their legions of fans, along with the wallets of many music industry executives, would have loved nothing more than Liverpool’s favourite sons getting back together, most people who were familiar with the bandmembers could see that it was never going to happen.
Take Elton John, for instance. During a 1976 interview with Playboy, he was asked – as a fellow member of pop royalty in the United Kingdom – whether he thought The Beatles would ever reunite. “People are always wanting Elizabeth Taylor to go back to Richard Burton. And every so often she does it,” he shared, “The only thing good about getting The Beatles back together would be to watch how Lennon and McCartney write songs and how the four would get on. It’s an absolutely impossible situation; there’s no way they will.”
“If somehow it did happen,” Elton John continued, “there’s no way of telling — it could be a disaster, or it could be great. I don’t think anyone has come along since The Beatles to match their popularity, or their achievement when you think of the songs that they wrote in that space of time that have become more or less standards.” Given the tensions that broke the band up in the first place, “disaster” seems to be the most likely outcome.
Of course, the murder of John Lennon in 1980 and the subsequent death of George Harrison in 2001 firmly put an end to any calls for a Beatles reunion. However, it is unlikely such an event would have ever happened anyway. After all, each band member witnessed incredible success with their solo work, which also allowed them to explore different themes that would not have fit on a Beatles record. Paul McCartney summed it up best when he said that a reunion would “ruin the whole Beatles thing”.
