Although they wouldn't officially disband until April 1970, the first signs that the four-headed beast known as the Beatles was starting to come apart at the seams took place on Aug. 22, 1968. A little more than six years to the day that he performed his first show with the group, drummer Ringo Starr walked out during the recording sessions for 'The Beatles.'
Only two days after Pete Best was fired as the drummer of the Beatles, the group performed their first official gig with Ringo Starr. The concert took place at Hulme Hall in Birkenhead - a ferry 'cross the Mersey away from Liverpool - on Aug. 18, 1962.
On Aug. 9, 1968, the Beatles were in the middle of the recording sessions that would yield 'The Beatles,' the double LP better known as 'The White Album.' One song that got finished that day was Paul McCartney's 'Mother Nature's Son.'
The term "Beatlemania" wouldn't be coined for another two months, but by August 1963, the Beatles were becoming so popular in the U.K. that they created a magazine devoted to all things Beatles. That month, the first of 77 issues of Beatles Monthly went out to members of the band's fan club.
It's one of the most famous songs of the 20th century and an anthem that, to this day, still ends the main set of Paul McCartney's concerts. On July 29, 1968, the Beatles began recording 'Hey Jude,' a process that would take one week and two studios to complete.
The first time John Lennon met Paul McCartney, Lennon was about ready to go onstage with his band the Quarrymen. One of the group members knew McCartney from school, so he introduced him to his bandmates. Lennon was 16; McCartney was 15. It was July 6, 1957, and the most significant meeting in rock history was about to go down.
For just about any band that eventually made it big, there's at least one guy who was in the lineup before they were famous -- their 'Pete Best,' if you will. But Jason Everman, who played guitar for Nirvana and bass for Soundgarden in the late '80s, narrowly missed his shot at the charts twice.
