On This Day, Sept. 20, 1969 …
John Lennon privately informed Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr that he was leaving The Beatles, although the news was initially kept quiet, as the band was about to sign a new recording contract.
McCartney then publicly announced his own departure in April 1970 as he released his debut solo album, angering Lennon, who later shared, “I started the band. I disbanded it. It’s as simple as that.”
The Beatles officially disbanded following McCartney’s announcement. They released their final album, Let It Be, one month after their breakup, although it was recorded before their previous album, Abbey Road, which came out in September 1969.
Although Lennon died in 1980 and George Harrison passed in 2001, The Beatles released a new song, “Now and Then,” in 2023, which used vocals Lennon recorded on a demo in the late ’70s, along with guitar Harrison recorded in the mid-’90s, and new recordings from McCartney and Starr.
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