Beatles News
The actor is rumored to be playing Paul McCartney in Sam Mendes' four films
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 20: Paul Mescal attends the "Gladiator II" New York Special Screening hosted by GQ and Paramount Pictures at The Whitby Hotel on November 20, 2024, in New York, New York. (Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
Paul Mescal. John Nacion/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Ridley Scott may have inadvertently revealed some major casting news during a Q&A with Christopher Nolan last night in Los Angeles.
During a conversation with Christopher Nolan that followed a screening of Gladiator II at the Directors Guild of America, Scott confirmed his next project will be thriller The Dog Stars. When Nolan asked if Paul Mescal will star in the film, Scott initially said yes before correcting himself that Mescal’s schedule may prevent them from reuniting.
“Maybe,” Scott said, via The Hollywood Reporter. “Paul is actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next. So I may have to let him go.”
Mescal has been rumored to be part of Sam Mendes’ forthcoming Beatles films, which will focus on each of the Fab Four, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Mescal is reportedly set to play McCartney, although neither Sony Pictures nor Mendes has confirmed that.
Last month, Entertainment Tonight asked Mescal how it would feel to play McCartney. “It would be an incredible story to be attached to,” Mescal said. “The fact that Sam Mendes is attached to direct, like truly, it would be a dream come true.” But when asked if he was in fact playing the Beatle, Mescal replied, “No, no, no — we’re not going there.”
Starr also recently let some casting news slip. The drummer seemingly confirmed that Barry Keoghan would be playing him, telling Entertainment Tonight, “I think he’s great, I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons. I hope not too many.” Starr’s remark, in late November, gave some validity to the Keoghan rumors, but another source told Rolling Stone that there still were no deals with any actors.
Reflecting the Beatles’ massive influence, Sony Pictures has elected to produce four different films to zoom in on each member of the band, rather than go the more typical biopic route. Mendes, the director behind American Beauty as well as the Bond films Skyfall and Spectre, was tapped to direct all four flicks. They’re expected to arrive in theaters in 2027.
“I’m honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies,” Mendes said in a statement back in February.
Source: Emily Zemler/Rolling Stone
Paul McCartney has backed calls for laws to stop mass copyright theft by companies building generative artificial intelligence, warning AI “could just take over”.
The former Beatle said it would be “a very sad thing indeed” if young composers and writers could not protect their intellectual property from the rise of algorithmic models, which so far have learned by digesting mountains of copyrighted material.
He spoke out amid growing concern that the rise of AI is threatening income streams for music, news and book publishers. Next week the UK parliament will debate amendments to the data bill that could allow creators to decide whether or not their copyrighted work can be used to train generative AI models.
The amendments, championed by Beeban Kidron, would require operators of internet bots that copy content to train generative AI models to comply with copyright laws.
Source: Robert Booth/theguardian.com
A new video featurette has been posted on the late George Harrison’s social media pages featuring audio commentary from Harrison’s Traveling Wilburys bandmate—and Electric Light Orchestra frontman—Jeff Lynne about George’s guitar talents.
In the clip, Lynne shares his respect for Harrison’s slide-guitar skills. The video also features archival photos and film footage of the ex-Beatles legend playing guitar.
“I think George is the best slide player that I’ve ever heard,” Lynne says. “He’s so accurate on it, and he makes it sing, and he makes it cry, and he makes it do anything, really.”
Adds Jeff, “And he can hold out a pure note with just beautiful vibrato that is so even. And it’s that style, it’s the melodic aspect of it, but it’s also … soulful, bluesy. He can do it all.”
The video is accompanied by a segment of the 2024 mix of Harrison’s chart-topping 1973 solo tune “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth).” George’s slide playing is a highlight of the tune, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1973.
The updated mix of the track appears on the recently released 50th anniversary reissue of George’s 1973 studio album, Living in the Material World.
Lynne first worked with Harrison on George’s 1987 solo album Cloud Nine. The collaboration came about after Dave Edmunds, whose 1983 album was co-produced by Lynne, told Jeff that Harrison was interested in working with him.
Lynne wound up co-producing Cloud Nine with Harrison and co-writing several of the album’s songs, including the hit Beatles tribute tune “When We Was Fab.” Jeff subsequently co-produced Tom Petty’s 1989 debut solo album, Full Moon Fever, which featured guest appearances by Harrison and Roy Orbison.
Source: Matt Friedlander/americansongwriter.com
Dedicated fans of the legendary Beatles musician John Lennon converged on Strawberry Fields in Central Park Sunday to dance, sing and remember the icon’s tragic death 44 years ago.
The grassroots gathering — which drew Beatlemaniacs from around the globe — sprung forth as it does every year on the 2.5-acre tract of impeccably manicured lawn named for one of the Beatles’ most famous songs.
“For the last 44 years, we’ve celebrated his life,” said Quent Kelleher, a 60-year-old native New Yorker who comes to the same spot every year on the anniversary of Lennon’s Dec. 8, 1980 murder outside his home a short distance from the park.
“My best friend called me up that night — he lives around the corner — and told me [Lennon] was shot,” Kelleher told The Post. “And we came out here that night, and we’ve been coming out here [since].”
“We’ve even had binoculars and seen Yoko Ono looking out the window up there watching,” Kelleher said, gesturing to The Dakota Apartments on 72nd Street, where she and Lennon lived before his death.
The music icon was fatally shot just before 11 p.m. that night under an archway in front of his building by Mark David Chapman, who later said he killed the 40-year-old Lennon because he wanted fame and had “evil in my heart.”
Source: Valentina Jaramillo/nypost.com
Ringo Starr and his All Starr band are returning to the road in 2025 with a string of new tour dates.
The latest trek kicks off June 12 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and wraps June 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tour includes shows at Philadelphia’s The Mann Center and Radio City Music Hall in New York, making up for shows that Ringo had to cancel during the fall leg of his 2024 tour after getting sick.
“I am happy to announce these new All Starr shows in June,” Ringo shared. “I absolutely love playing live and I love this band. It’s been so great playing with these guys, I just want to keep this line up going and that’s why I haven’t changed the All Starrs in a while. So here we go again, and we look forward to seeing you on the road this Spring.”
Ringo’s All Starr Band is made up of the same musicians who joined him on the road earlier this year: Toto’s Steve Lukather, Men at Work‘s Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart, Gregg Bissonette and Buck Johnson.
A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at ringostarr.com.
Next up, Ringo is set to release his new country album, Look Up, produced and co-written by T Bone Burnett, on Jan. 10. He’ll celebrate the release of the album with two shows, Jan. 14 and Jan. 15, at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, billed as Ringo Starr & Friends.
Source: everettpost.com/
It was a moment that shocked the world. On this day in 1980, John Lennon was shot dead as he walked into his home at the Dakota building in New York City.
The Woolton-raised former Beatle was gunned down by Mark David Chapman, said to be envious of John's lifestyle and inspired by the JD Salinger novel 'The Catcher in the Rye'. Chapman had planned the killing for months and had met John earlier that day to get his copy of the album 'Double Fantasy' signed.
As John and his wife Yoko Ono returned to their home to say goodnight to their son Sean before heading for a night out, Chapman shot the star four times in the back with a revolver. The 'Imagine' singer was taken to hospital and there was an attempt to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead.
Chapman was arrested at the scene, where police found him reading the aforementioned Salinger book. A huge outpouring of grief was felt around the world.
Tearful crowds gathered at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, where John had been taken, and at the Dakota itself. At least two Beatles fans died by suicide in the aftermath of the murder.
The day after the fatal shooting, December 9, 1980, the Liverpool ECHO front page headline read: 'John Lennon shot dead'.
Heartbroken fans gathered on Mathew Street to pay tribute to one of the city's favourite sons. That Tuesday's ECHO read: “The people of Liverpool were stunned today by the shock news of John Lennon’s death. Grief-stricken fans gathered in the cold of Mathew Street. The site of the Cavern where Beatlemania was born quickly became a shrine to his memory”.
John's fellow Beatles - his childhood friends - all paid tribute to him. In a statement given to the press, George Harrison said: "After all we went through together, I had and still have great love and respect for him. I am shocked and stunned.
Source: Dan Haygarth/liverpoolecho.co.uk
There are a handful of Beatles albums that continue to perform well to this day. The sets that regularly appear on charts around the world are often compilations, as listeners often flock to these collections of the band’s biggest hits to return to the music they love. That’s not strange for a legacy act, but the Fab Four have broken that trend this week, as one of their less-popular projects—at least when looking specifically at modern times—is back.
Meet The Beatles! is back on the Billboard charts in America this week. The early release from the rockers debuts on one tally and returns to another, and it’s all thanks to a huge sales sum.
In the past tracking frame in the U.S., Meet The Beatles! sold another 6,900 copies. That’s a huge sum for an album that was originally released 60 years ago—and it’s up from the period before by a nearly unbelievable percentage.
Last week, Meet The Beatles! sold just under 7,000 copies throughout the country. The period before, it barely sold anything. According to numbers provided by Luminate, the set’s sales sum rockets a little more than 693,000% in a matter of just a few days.
Meet The Beatles! wasn’t all of a sudden rediscovered by the American masses in late fall 2024. Not long ago, a new vinyl edition of the album was released, one which was based on the original mono recordings from the musicians themselves back in the day. The project is a bit of a collectible for longtime lovers of the group, and thousands of them rushed to pick up a copy.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
Despite being one of the most revered men in music history, so much of John Lennon as a person is steeped in mystery. Some diehard fans may already know the stories behind the following three songs, but newer fans may not be aware of the intimate details behind them that showcase the more genuine, vulnerable side of Lennon. Let’s take a look at the fascinating stories behind three of John Lennon’s best songs!
1. “Nowhere Man”
This Yellow Submarine track from 1965 was written by John Lennon as part of The Beatles. On the surface, its meaning seems pretty clear. “Nowhere Man” is about a man with no direction in life and no real worldview.
Lennon spoke about the song briefly in an interview with Playboy Magazine. He said that the song came to him after a restless night of trying to write a very meaningful song. Paul McCartney, though, once said that he believed Lennon wrote the song about himself and the state of his marriage. We’ll never know the truth… But if you read between the lines, it seems like McCartney’s assessment was probably true.
2. “Mother”
John Lennon’s best songs are often his most vulnerable, and “Mother” is one of his most heartwrenching explorations of the past. Lennon would later go on to say that “Mother” was about parents in the broad sense. But considering his history, this song is likely very personal.
Lennon had a strained relationship with his parents. Despite having a decent relationship with his mother, he lived with his aunt for a number of years. His mother Julia tragically died in 1958 after being struck by a car. Lennon never really confronted his trauma and grief around his mother’s death, but he did very clearly put his feelings to work on “Mother”.
Source: Em Casalena/americansongwriter.com
The title suggests a return to the start, but in actuality, Back to the Egg turned out to be a farewell set from Wings, Paul McCartney’s ever-mutating 1970s band. It wasn’t supposed to be the end, mind you, so it might not have the air of finality that you’d expect.
Back to the Egg now stands out as an interesting addition to McCartney catalog, one that was clearly influenced by the punk and new wave sounds of the day. Here’s a look back at how the Wings era ended. We Are the Egg Men
Was it because Paul McCartney was a more demanding bandleader than anyone could have guessed? Or was it all part of Macca’s master plan to keep things fresh and unexpected? Whatever the reason, Wings, the band he started in 1971 in the wake of The Beatles’ implosion, couldn’t seem to keep a steady lineup for very long.
Lead guitar and drums were the two fungible spots in the Wings lineup. During the making of their 1978 album London Town, Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English departed from those positions in the band. That left in the band the stalwart trio of McCartney, wife Linda, and Denny Laine, soon to be joined by guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holley.
One other hallmark of Wings’ career: McCartney’s tendency to have them record in unusual locations. In the case of Back to the Egg, that meant sessions in a castle in Kent, England, as well as a studio Macca had constructed in his London offices to the exact specifications of what could be found in EMI Studios (which he called, naturally, Replica).
For the most part, McCartney and his new cohorts locked into an uptempo, brash groove on the new songs he had written. Macca’s ideas kept coming, however, which is why the album included a couple of songs with the “Rockestra,” an all-start assemblage including David Gilmour, Pete Townshend, John Bonham, and many other rock luminaries.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
The Beatles left an indelible mark on both music and television, shaping culture in ways that still resonate today. Their arrival in the United States in February 1964 sparked what became known as “Beatlemania,” a movement that not only redefined the music world but also influenced the broader cultural landscape.
The documentary Beatles ’64 offers a fascinating glimpse into this groundbreaking era. Featuring rarely-seen archival footage and heartfelt interviews, the film dives deep into the band’s ascent to superstardom. It covers their electrifying first visit to America, the hysteria they inspired, and the unique bond shared by the four young men who captivated millions.
Paul McCartney recalled this incredible time with vivid detail, reflecting on the band’s un
forgettable appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. That performance etched their names in history, blending music and television in a way that had never been done before. (Click on the media bar below to hear Paul McCartney)
Beatles ’64 is streaming on Disney+
Source: Hollywood Outbreak
