Shine On Till Tomorrow: The Beatles’ Breakup at 50 How petty infighting snowballed into rock’s most legendary splitBy Rob Sheffield ![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3.wxrtfm.radio.com/s3fs-public/styles/alpha__380x250/public/the_beatles.jpg?itok=_mzXNDY1&c=e63ad980c9c07179548aba0839670c6f)
Fifty years ago, the Beatles broke up — it wasn’t the first time, and it wasn’t necessarily supposed to be the last. But the world finally got the message on April 10th, 1970. That was the day Paul McCartney made headlines with a Q&A he sent out with press copies of his solo album McCartney, in which he casually announced a “break with the Beatles.†Why? “Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family.†Temporary or permanent? “I don’t know.†Was he planning to make any more music with the band? “No.â€
Paul had said things like this before, in public and in private — all four of them had. But this time, nobody made a move to deny it.
When their new movie Let It Be premiered in London on May 20th, none of them showed up. The four Beatles never got together to watch the movie or listen to the album. The four Beatles never set foot in the same room again.
It’s not just the most legendary music split ever — it’s the world’s favorite story about how things fall apart. Along with the Fleetwood Mac of Rumours, the Beatles have come to symbolize the whole concept of breaking up, along with the idea of turning all that pain and despair into passionately soulful music. It’s a story that resonates in our own current Everybody Had a Hard Year moment: four friends struggling to hold on to each other in dark and confusing times, searching for a way to shine on till tomorrow.
<..snip..>
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/beatles-breakup-anniversary-rob-sheffield-980941/