While Beatles fans have speculated for decades on who broke up the iconic British band, Paul McCartney spoke up in a recent interview to give his side of the story.
“I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny,” McCartney said in an unreleased episode of the BBC Radio 4 interview series This Cultural Life. In a preview clip, the former Beatle told British journalist John Wilson that “John walked into the room one day and said, ‘I’m leaving the Beatles.’ And he said, ‘It’s quite thrilling. It’s rather like a divorce.’ And then we were left to pick up the pieces.”
According to McCartney, Lennon’s decision to leave the band was driven by his interest in protests and social issues — this included “bagging,” a practice in the 1960s inspired by Lennon and Ono in which practitioners would wear bags to hide their features in hopes of combating prejudice.
Some fans have speculated McCartney ended the band’s career in the late 1960s. As each Beatle explored their musical interests separately, only a few economic interests kept the band united. It was not until April 10, 1970, that McCartney proclaimed in an interview that the band was finished.
In his interview with Wilson, McCartney noted that the band stuck together for those last few months due to the business arrangements organized by their band manager, Allen Klein. “It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles, but we couldn’t just walk away.”
The suddenness of the breakup led to many fans theorizing. Some placed the blame on John Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono. Others attributed the fallout to Klein.
When asked about his attempt to sue the other Beatles for music rights, McCartney said that was the only way he could imagine to uphold the band’s musical legacy.
“I had to fight, and the only way I could fight was in suing the other Beatles because they were going with Klein. And they thanked me for it years later. But I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny coming in one day and saying, ‘I’m leaving the group.'”
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When asked about whether the band could have lasted longer, McCartney found the notion plausible. “It could have been. The point of it really was that John was making a new life with Yoko. John had always wanted to sort of break loose from society because … he was brought up by his Aunt Mimi, who was quite repressive, so he was always looking to break loose.”
