Ringo had peritonitis when he was 6 and was so ill his mother was told he wouldn't survive.

Jane Asher, Paul's former fiance and one of his first loves, is still active in London theatre, owns several cake shops and is kind of the "Martha Stewart" of England.  She was married for years to a very successful cartoonist, but is currently unmarried.

The song George played for his audition to get into John Lennon's band was the instrumental Raunchy.

The song Paul played to get into John Lennon's band was 20 Flight Rock. Paul included it on his album Unplugged.

Besides Standing Stone (a symphonic poem by Paul McCartney), other events that EMI arranged to celebrate its 100th birthday included a floral show and an interactive art museum.

The original title for "Love You Too" was "Laxon's Superb." 

To read about some Scouse vernacular, there is a Scouse dictionary by Scouse Press (fax 727-7272 or 051-727-2727) titled Lern Yourself Scouse.

"My Bonnie" was The Beatles' first commercial recording, but not as the Beatles. This song, first released in Germany in June 1961, was credited to Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers.

The first release of the new Apple label (owned by the Beatles) was "Hey Jude" in August, 1968.

On June 25, 1967, the Beatles song "All You Need Is Love" was broadcast on live televison via satellite from London. Ringo commented that his shirt (designed by a Danish group called The Fool) was the heaviest shirt he's ever worn. It was loaded with beautiful reflective beads.

"Something," written by George Harrison to reflect the feelings for his wife Pattie, was released in 1969. It was the only song by Harrison (during his stint with the Beatles) ever released on the A-side of a 45-rpm single.

On the day that Paul and Linda married, George and Pattie were busted for drugs. The Harrisons still managed to go to an evening reception for the newlyweds.

The Beatles first tasted crepe suzettes while they were staying at the George V. Hotel in Paris. (Jan., 1964) They had a waiter come to their room and do nothing all day except make crepes for them.

When the Beatles appeared on Jukebox Jury, a TV show that allowed celebrities to give opinions on new songs, on 11 Dec., 1963, the entire cast and crew traveled to Liverpool for the broadcast. It was the first time the London-based show was broadcast at a site other than London.

The only time that The Beatles played The Royal Albert Hall was in April, 1963. They wore collarless suits with slit pockets and performed with De Shannon, Susan Maughan, and Shane Fenton (other UK celebrities at the time).

The only Beatle to show up for the Royal Variety Club Lunch in June, 1965 was Paul. He was pleased that they seated him next to David Frost.

Neil Aspinall, The Beatles' trusted road manager, stood in for George at the rehearsal for the Ed Sullivan show appearance because George was ill with a throat problem.

Dezo Hoffman photographed the Beatles in old-fashioned bathing suits. He said that John liked his so much that he wore it long after the photography session was over. Recently rumors have circulated that the footage from this session might be realeased in a collection of early home movies and films.

Paul slicked his hair back, wore a fake moustache, glasses and a blue overcoat to tour France by himself in 1964. His disguise was so good that it not only kept him from getting into fashionable clubs, but it also fooled Georege Harrison and Brian Epstein. He said that not being famous for a while helped him deal with the pressure they were experiencing in their career.

George Martin has recently retired after producing his last album, a collection of Beatles hits covered by various artists of his choice.  Sir George has said that he is suffering from hearing loss.

On January 13, 1997, Paul McCartney was knighted by the Queen of England.  "It's a fantastic honor," Paul said, "and I'm gratefully receiving it on behalf of the people of Liverpool and the other Beatles, without whom it wouldn't have been possible."  He has said in other interviews that the nicest thing was to be able to make "your girlfriend a lady", speaking of his wife, Linda, who has now passed away.

During the taping of the Townhall meeting, a strange power surge occurred, making the monitors go blue.  The engineers questioned what the problem was, but Paul quickly shook his head.  "It's only John.  He's here with us."

In 1986, the producers of Beatlemania were ordered to pay Apple Corps $10.5 million for commercially exploiting The Beatles.

The Rutles are the ultimate Beatles parody--as a concept and as a band--and their history and songs provide a scathing and hilarious spin on the entire Beatles mythology.  If you've never heard their music or seen the marvelous show All You Need is Cash, do yourself a BIG favor and check it out!  George Harrison even appears in heavy disguise.

The Beatles regretted saying in an early interview that they liked "jelly babies" (the English equivalent of jelly beans).  Girls threw huges amounts of the sweets at them during their stage performances.  Later in their career, many other items were thrown on stage also.  Memorably, shoes were tossed in several gigs.  Ringo says in his recent Storytellers chat that one song Paul and John wrote for him said, "What would you do if I sang out of tune, would you throw tomatoes at me?"  He refused to sing that line in light of the other items that had hit him in other years.  Instead, it was changed to "...would you stand up and walk out on me?"

On Oct. 5, 1962, The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You" was released in the U.K.  There is dispute over whether Brian Epstein personally bought 10,000 copies, assuring that the lads would have a Top 20 hit.

Paul and Linda decided to "go veggie" because they saw lambs outside their window playing.  They said that it made them realize that until recently, the lamb on their plates had been alive.  Paul admits that sometimes he loves to smell bacon.  He has said it is the one food that tempts him most, but he says he will eat bacon substitute instead because he feels so strongly about animals rights.
 

Paul McCartney's fan club, called The Paul McCartney Fun Club has now been dissolved by Paul.  In a recent press release, Geoff Baker said that since Paul and Linda started the club together, Paul didn't feel like it should continue without her. Linda was the photography editor and Paul was the editor of a quarterly publication designed to keep fans aware of current happenings. Special offers for memorabilia and tickets for performance were sometimes included.