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“He gets all the credit for it”: when did John Lennon quit The Beatles?

Wed 26 February 2025 18:30, UK

Say what you like about the other three, but John Lennon was undeniably the most essential quarter of The Beatles, without whose artistry the history of music would be a much darker place. However, given how insanely manic the Fab Four’s fame was, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that their tenure as a band was relatively short-lived, lasting only seven years from inception to complete destruction. Of course, Lennon played no small role in hurtling them towards that fate.

In fact, when the cracks had begun to show and new horizons seemed ever more tempting, it was technically Lennon who was the first to jump ship. The facts of The Beatles’ disbandment could frankly be the subject of its own history book separate from the heights of their rock and roll reign, but nevertheless, the potted story from only Lennon’s perspective is an interesting tale of drama, deceit and ultimate betrayal.

With the lines between a rock band breakup and the plot line of a Shakespearean play thus increasingly blurred, it’s probably worthwhile laying out the basic facts before diving into the theatrics. As much as The Beatles’ official farewell came in 1970 after the release of Let It Be, Lennon had actually quit the band a year prior, on September 20th, 1969, amid notorious rising tensions and the alluring call to fresh sonic dreams.

Despite his wish to depart in favour of the Plastic Ono Band, which inevitably raised a few eyebrows – or tempers – among the rest of the group, Lennon’s loyalty to The Beatles remained more than what can be said for others after the event. Dutifully, he agreed not to go public with the news until Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison had their renegotiated affairs in order – but that turned out to be a prime opportunity to throw him under the bus.

What happened after John Lennon quit The Beatles?

Even though the agreement was to keep schtum, the veil of secrecy soon got flung out the window by Macca, who decided to outdo Lennon and brazenly announced his departure from the band alongside his first solo album in April 1970. Naturally, this made Lennon apoplectic with rage, proclaiming, “Jesus Christ! He gets all the credit for it!” before putting down for the record that: “I started the band. I disbanded it. It’s as simple as that.”

It goes without saying that there were a whole host of other factors which burned alongside them in setting out to destroy the Fab Four. Creative differences, disputes over songwriting credits, financial fiascos, and ultimately the death of manager Brian Epstein in 1969 left The Beatles in a state of disarray, meaning that although their chances had long since fractured, the official legal confirmation of their breakup didn’t go through until 1974.

As much as the disbandment may have ended up being somewhat inevitable, it was Lennon who firmly set the wheels in motion towards The Beatles’ final demise. At the time, he was chasing more fruitful ambitions, but in retrospect, could he have really peaked any further than worldwide mania? It just goes to show that the sweeter the fame, the more toxic the fallout.