Life After the Beatles
All four of the Beatles found success alone.
Ringo acted in a few films and he continued to make records. His 1973 album Ringo was a big success. All the other Beatles played on this album... but not at the same time. Ringo is still playing and touring with his All Starr Band. Many of Ringo's famous friends from the world of music - and his son, Zak - have played in this band. Many British children know and love Ringo for another reason. He was the voice of a train in a famous children's television programme! George seemed happy to be away from the shadows of Lennon and McCartney. His 1970 album All Things Must Pass reached number one around the world. George's most famous song in the 1970s was 'My Sweet Lord', but he was taken to court because of it. In the court's opinion, part of it was copied from an old song. In the early 1980s, George also played in the Travelling Wilburys with Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison.
George became interested in films, but not as an actor. He produced films like Monty Python's Life of Brian and Time Bandits. In 1999, someone failed to kill George in his home. But sadly, two years later, he died after a long illness.
Paul has had the most success after the Beatles. After the albums McCartney and Ram, he wanted to be in a real band again. In 1971 he started a new band, Wings, with his wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine. At first, Wings drove all over Britain playing small concerts. It was like the old days of the Beatles again. Wings soon became big. 1973's Band on the Run was Paul's most successful album. In 1977, the band recorded 'Mull of Kintyre'. This song sold more than any other single in Britain before that time. Wings ended in 1981, but Paul continued making records. In 1997, he was back at Buckingham Palace. He became Sir Paul McCartney.
Paul has sold millions of records since 1970, but one of his biggest successes was his happy family life with Linda and their children. Sadly, in 1998, Linda McCartney died. Paul now has another woman, Heather Mills, in his life.
John and Yoko moved to New York. They still spoke openly on many subjects, and at one time the American government wanted to throw him out of the country. Some of John's most interesting work was on his first two albums, John Lennon Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. On the first album, John sang painfully honest songs about his mothers death. In another song, he sang the words, 'I don't believe in Beatles I just believe in me.' The title song of Imagine is probably his most famous song.
Most people think that John's later work in the 1970s wasn't as good. For some time, John and Yoko weren't together. John called this his 'lost weekend', but it lasted eighteen months. Back with Yoko, John didn't make music for a few years. He looked after their son, Sean. He returned to the recording studio in the summer of 1980 to make Double Fantasy with Yoko. Much of the album was about family life. One of the songs from the album, '(Just Like) Starting Over' was doing well when John was killed. Friends again
The Beatles ended badly, and some of the band were angry for a long time. On 1971's Imagine, John's song 'How Do You Sleep?' was an attack on Paul. (George Harrison was angry too - he played guitar on the song.)
But finally, Paul and John became friendlier again. Paul visited John a few times in New York after Sean Lennon's birth. In 1994, years after John's death, both men were given an important music award. On stage, Paul read out a letter to John. In it, he remembered their past together. He ended, 'This letter comes, with love, from your friend Paul.'
