Why The Beatles Stopped Touring Before Tragic Breakup, According to George Harrison

The Beatles
26th October 1965: British pop group The Beatles, from left to right; Ringo Starr, John Lennon (1940 - 1980), Paul McCartney and George Harrison (1943 - 2001), outside Buckingham Palace, London, after receiving their MBE's (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from the Queen. Fox Photos/Getty Images

Before his death, George Harrison revealed the reason why The Beatles stopped touring at one point.

The Beatles left their fans heartbroken when they marked their final paid concert in San Francisco, California, in 1966. Around 25,000 fans attended the concert. However, there were still 7,000 unsold tickets, leaving Tempo Productions suffering a massive loss.

After that concert, The Beatles stopped touring abruptly.

The Beatles Wanted To Retire From Touring

According to Rolling Stone, George Harrison said that the band members already decided it would be their final tour before even appearing on stage. At that time, the "Let It Be" hitmakers were already facing some issues as John Lennon's comparison of the band's popularity to Jesus emerged.

"We placed our cameras on the amplifiers and put them on a timer," the late musician said. "We stopped between tunes, Ringo got down off the drums, and we stood facing the amplifiers with our back to the audience and took photographs."


From there, The Beatles had the unanimous decision that it would be their last concert.

As for the reason why they stopped touring, Harrison revealed a year before the band's disbandment that they decided to stop it all at once as The Beatles were only doing it for the money. He added that they were not getting pleasure out of it.

Aside from that, Paul McCartney told NPR how the members started getting frustrated by their fans' overwhelming behavior. The guitarist compared their fandom to a million seagulls screaming that they could not enjoy performing anymore since they could not hear the music.

The Beatles' Breakup

Four years after The Beatles stopped touring, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Ringo Starr announced their disbandment.

Fans thought that the split was caused by the death of the band's manager, Brian Epstein, on Aug. 27, 1967. The then-32-year-old was found dead following an accidental drug overdose.

Epstein initially did not approve of the members' decision to stop touring. As The Beatles began to redefine pop music but make less money, they drifted away from the manager.

In the years after his death, The Beatles members went through several meetings and discussions. But at one point, Lennon revealed to McCartney and Starr that he was leaving the group in 1969.

Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein urged Lennon to keep his departure a secret so it would not affect their supposed deal, which could have their financial struggles.

The Beatles still got the deal, but they signed it on the day Lennon left the band for good.

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