Paul McCartney Drops Bomb – Reveals Real Reason The Beatles Split

Millions of fans from all over the globe were shocked and devastated when the Beatles announced their split in 1970. At the time, Beatles members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr seemed unstoppable. Now, more than 50 years later, Paul McCartney wants to set the record straight with a bombshell revelation on the real reason behind iconic band’s breakup. 

Paul McCartney Reveals Why The Beatles Broke Up

In a new interview, McCartney claims that it was actually the late great John Lennon who caused the band to split. 

“I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny … John walked into a room one day and said, ‘I am leaving the Beatles,’” McCartney told the BBC, going on to say that he was upset because he thought the group was still “putting out pretty good stuff” when they called it quits.

“This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue,” McCartney, 79, continued. 

Paul McCartney explained that as John Lennon developed a greater social conscience, he became dissatisfied with being part of the world’s most popular and successful band.

He said that Lennon wanted to “lie in bed in Amsterdam for peace. And you couldn’t argue with that.”

McCartney also does not blame Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono for the split, even though many fans did.

“The point of it really was that John was making a new life with Yoko,” he stated. “They were a great couple. There was huge strength there.”

Related: John Lennon’s Murderer Has A Message For Yoko Ono

‘It Was Horrible’

John Lennon leaving the band left the other three members scrambling to find a new path in life, with Paul McCartney saying that it was “the most difficult period of my life.”

He specifically hated the need for lawyers to be involved with the band’s split for the sake of secrecy. 

“Around about that time, we were having little meetings, and it was horrible. It was the opposite of what we were. We were musicians not meeting people,” he remembered, saying that he just wanted it to be over quickly. “For a few months, we had to pretend. It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles, but we couldn’t just walk away.”

Paul McCartney is preparing to turn 80 next year, and to mark the occasion, he’s put together “The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present,” which is a a two-volume book in which he reminisces about how he created his songs, including his work with the Beatles. 

These songs span my entire life,” he said of the book, which is “as close to an autobiography” as he “may ever come.”

Related: Paul McCartney Addresses Alleged Feud With John Lennon, Who Visits His Dreams

Paul McCartney Still Amazed By His Time With The Beatles

While going through his archives to put the book together, Paul McCartney found some unreleased treasures from his partnership with John Lennon, who was tragically assassinated back in 1980.

One such treasure was an  unrecorded Lennon-McCartney song called “Tell Me Who He Is” and a script for a radio play.

“It is quite a funny thing called Pilchard, and it is about the Messiah, actually,” said McCartney. 

Though he lived through it, McCartney can’t help but look back at his time with The Beatles with a sense of wonder.

“I was actually working with the great John Lennon, and he with me,” he said. “It was very exciting.”

The Beatles may have broken up over fifty years ago, but the band will always live on through their incredible music. 

Read next: ‘Beatles’ Legend John Lennon Once Visited The ‘Happy Days’ Set And His Behavior Was Surprising

Here is the Beatles singing “Don’t Let Me Down” during their heyday. Enjoy!