The Beatles broke up in 1970 after releasing their thirteenth and final album, Let It Be. The band had had many problems in the previous years, with incessant arguments and even lawsuits between them. But John Lennon knew the heartbreaking split was coming years before it actually happened.
Lennon felt that the band’s days had been numbered since August 27, 1967, when Brian Epstein died.
Epstein was the band’s manager and the man who discovered The Beatles in a dusty alleyway in Liverpool, UK. He pushed them to change the look of him, replaced their drummer with Ringo Starr, and got them their first number one singles. He was extremely close to all the members of the band, particularly Lennon, so when he died in 1967, the Fab Four were devastated.
Epstein was found dead at his home at the age of 32. He suffered a combined overdose of alcohol and barbiturates. The death was ruled accidental.
Lennon spoke candidly about learning of Epstein’s death and what he felt it meant to the band.
In fact, after The Beatles released The White Album in November 1968, Lennon felt that the band was completely over. He grimly announced, “We broke up then.” Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come for The Beatles.
Lennon recalled the power vacuum left by Epstein and recalled how Paul McCartney stepped in to take his place.
“Paul took over and supposedly ran us,” Lennon said. “But what drives us, when we were going round in circles?”
Lennon later described these circumstances as “the disintegration” of The Beatles.
Months later, on April 10, 1970, The Beatles announced their separation. McCartney announced in a press release that he was no longer working with the band. Legal disputes continued throughout the year before the band members began working on their solo music.
While rumors of a reunion continued to plague the band throughout the 1970s, they never got back together.
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