Yoko Ono is considered by many to be the source of the Beatles breakup. But John Lennon’s wife is pointing her finger at someone else: Paul McCartney.
In a newly released interview, Yoko Ono blames Paul for the Beatles “divorce,” saying that the Beatles were becoming Paul’s band and that the other members didn’t like that.
According to Ono, Ringo Starr and George Harrison both wanted out of the Beatles before Lennon did. Paul tried to keep the band together but the other band members were too independent and didn’t want to be a part of “Paul’s band.”
In a 1987 interview with Rolling Stone , Ono said :
“The Beatles were getting very independent. Each one of them [was] getting independent. John, in fact, was not the first who wanted to leave the Beatles. [We saw] Ringo [Starr] one night with Maureen [Starkey Tigrett], and he came to John and me and said he wanted to leave. George [Harrison] was next, and then John. Paul [McCartney] was the only one trying to hold the Beatles together. But the other three thought Paul would hold the Beatles together as his band. They were getting to be like Paul’s band, which they didn’t like.”
McCartney may not agree that he was trying to turn the Beatles into his band but the rocker would agree that Yoko Ono was not responsible for the Beatle’s breakup. McCartney said in a recent interview :
“(Yoko) certainly didn’t break the group up, the group was breaking up.”
The Yoko Ono interview, as well as interviews with Harrison, McCartney, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and several other music legends were recently released by the Library of Congress .
Are you surprised that Yoko Ono blames Paul McCartney for breaking up the Beatles?