The Beatles were an English rock band consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr
from August 1962 to September 1969. Their break-up was a cumulative
process attributed to numerous factors, such as the strain of the Beatlemania phenomenon, the death of manager Brian Epstein in 1967, McCartney's domineering role, Lennon's heroin use, his relationship with Yoko Ono, Harrison's prolific songwriting output, the floundering of Apple Corps and the Get Back project (later Let It Be, 1970), and managerial disputes.
During the second half of the Beatles' career, the members began to
assert individual artistic agendas. Their disunity became most evident
on The Beatles
(also known as "The White Album", 1968), and quarrels and disharmony
over musical matters soon permeated their business discussions. Starr
and Harrison briefly quit the group during the making of The Beatles and Let It Be,
respectively. Starting in 1969, the group split into two camps
regarding who should handle their business affairs. McCartney lobbied
for entertainment lawyers Lee and John Eastman, but was outvoted by his bandmates in favour of businessman Allen Klein.
The final time that the four members recorded together collectively was the session for Abbey Road's closing track "The End"
on 18 August 1969. Lennon privately informed his bandmates that he was
leaving the Beatles on 20 September, although it was unclear to the
other members whether his departure was permanent. On 10 April 1970,
McCartney issued a press release that stated he was no longer working
with the group, which sparked a widespread media reaction and worsened
the tensions between him and his bandmates. Legal disputes continued
long after, and the dissolution was not formalised until 1974.
The members occasionally reunited for collaboration, but never with all four simultaneously. After Lennon's death in 1980, the remaining three regrouped for Harrison's song "All Those Years Ago" in 1981 and the Anthology project in 1994, the latter using the unfinished Lennon demos "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" as the basis for new songs recorded and released as the Beatles.
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