When The Beatles won an Academy Award
Over their time together as a band, The Beatles were adorned with several awards. Most of these included Grammys, and the band won ‘Best New Artist’ in 1965, ‘Song of the Year in 1967 for ‘Michelle’ and ‘Album of the Year’ in 1968 for Sgt. Pepper’s. The Beatles also won an Academy Award, too, around the time of their eventual breakup.
In 1971, the band joined the illustrious group of musicians to have been awarded an Oscar. Of course, by that point, they had already split up, so perhaps the win was not as celebrated as it might have been if they were still a tight musical unit. In fact, none of the band even bothered to collect the award at the ceremony.
The Fab Four had already received recognition at the Oscars after their 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night got nominated for ‘Best Screenplay’ and ‘Best Score’. But it was several years later before the band won one of the highly-coveted prizes for their 1970 documentary film Let It Be.
The film was directed by Michael Lindsey-Hogg and shows the recording process behind their final album of the same name, as well as showing a famous live concert on a London rooftop. Footage not used in the original film was later used by Peter Jackson in the 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back. The film feature the song ‘Let It Be’, which won the Oscar for ‘Best Original Song’.
The Beatles weren’t at the Academy Awards ceremony to accept their award, though and sent up Quincy Jones to receive it on their behalf. Upon grabbing the trophy, Jones said, “This is fantastic. I just wanted an excuse to get close to it, and I wish The Beatles were all here together tonight to receive this, but I have to get back to conduct the orchestra. On their behalf, thank you very much!”
Later Jones remembered the event in detail. He said, “I remember going by the studio on 799 Seventh Avenue. Paul was in the studio. I said, ‘Paul, I think you should show up for this Oscar event because you guys have a good shot at it, and you could possibly get nominated and possibly win.’”
Jones continued, “Paul and I had a great relationship. He said, ‘No, Quincy, you’re not gonna convince me’. I said, ‘Okay, I won’t care, don’t go’. And he didn’t go. That was the first year I conducted the orchestra. I had to put my baton down and go up and make a speech and pick up the Oscar for Lennon and McCartney for ‘Let It Be’.”
Check out the footage of Jones collecting the award and discussing the evening below.
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