Would The Beatles reunite if John Lennon and George Harrison were still alive?
There is no escaping the massive impact that The Beatles had on the world when they rose to fame in 1964. They had some success prior to that, but when they flew over to America and performed on the Ed Sullivan Show, Beatlemania truly kicked into play, and everybody in the US wanted to start a band as a result.
“The floodgates opened until the summer of ’65 when the Americans took the charts back with the folk rock of The Byrds and Bob Dylan,” said Steve Van Zandt when discussing The Beatles’ rise to fame. “It transformed America […] On February 8th, there were no bands in America; on February 9th we had Ed Sullivan and on February 10th, everybody had a band in their garage. It was literally overnight.”
It wasn’t just the case that The Beatles inspired a lot of people to start making music, but they also set the blueprint for how British bands could break America. In that sense, they were not just responsible for their own success, but they played a part in the success of a lot of other bands who came after them.
“There was no real future for a British band before The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964,” said Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, discussing the British invasion. “That was the turning point, after which there was an avalanche. It totally transformed the possibilities, and as usual, The Beatles were the frontrunners. In music, there is The Beatles, and then there is everybody else.”
This is one of the reasons why The Beatles are so frequently hailed as being a movement-defining band. The success they endured, their approach to music and their image as a whole completely changed the way people looked at music, and it’s why they are so commonly referred to as one of the most important bands of all time.
Of course, it wasn’t meant to last. Creative differences became too much of a fact for the band, as Paul McCartney wanted to write catchy pop songs, John Lennon wanted to write personal music, and George Harrison felt undervalued. A wedge was driven between the band, creating a rift that couldn’t be repaired, and the result was that the band split after being mainstream in America for about five years.
Fans were naturally devastated when The Beatles broke up, but the split allowed individual band members to work on the music they were passionate about making. Each member went in different creative directions, reflecting on why they grew tired of the band.
Tragedy struck some members of The Beatles, as John Lennon was murdered in 1980 and George Harrison passed away in 2001. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are the two surviving members, and while they work together frequently, as they showed by joining forces on the music video for ‘Now and Then’ and playing on stage at Paul McCartney’s recent London show, there is a question mark over whether The Beatles would ever reunite if John Lennon and George Harrison were still alive today.
What was the situation like when The Beatles broke up?
The band broke up on rough terms, as John Lennon, in particular, didn’t hold back when talking about how much he resented being in The Beatles. While friendships were maintained somewhat, and various members worked on each other’s solo albums, they didn’t seem in a good enough place to consider reuniting with The Beatles at any moment.
Time heals all wounds, though, and given that 40 years have passed since Lennon died and 20 years have passed since George Harrison, it’s worth asking whether that extra time would be enough for the band to do some gigs. It’s hard to imagine a world where they wouldn’t get back together for a Glastonbury headline slot or a massive stadium tour. After all, if Oasis can do it, anybody can, right?
The issue is that The Beatles were a very self-aware band. It’s likely that with the power of hindsight, they recognised the power of their legacy, not only as musical genius but as the blueprint that bands can follow. This legacy can never be topped, and as a result, they may have been hesitant to get back together because they knew those shows would never live up to the legend surrounding the band.
It’s hard to tell whether a reunion would be on the cards, and what you think probably reveals whether you’re an optimist or pessimist by trade. I think it’s more likely that the band would be doing something similar to what Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr do now, working together occasionally but never dressing it up as a full-blown reunion.
Unfortunately, because of the cruel fate that surrounded The Beatle’s members, a lot of empty space is filled with hypotheticals. We’re lucky they did so much during their time as a band that we can still enjoy six decades later.
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