Why Did the Beatles Really Break Up?

You just never get over some break-ups, and for fans across generations, the Beatles’ split in 1970 will always be one of the hardest-to-heal musical wounds. In the latest episode of IndieLand Music Now, Rob Sheffield — author of IndieLand’s September 2020 cover story on the Beatles’ last days — joins Brittany Spanos and host Brian Hiatt to talk about the many interlocking factors that led Paul, John, George, and Ringo to call it quits (no, you can’t just blame it all on Yoko Ono). Sheffield also previews Peter Jackson’s in-the-works Beatles documentary, which the Lord of the Rings director is assembling from the extensive footage shot for 1970’s Let It Be film. Plus, Ringo Starr chimes in with his impressions of what he’s seen so far of Jackson’s project: dramatically enhanced and restored footage of the Beatles rooftop performance.

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Download and subscribe to our weekly podcast, IndieLand Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on iTunes or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts), and check out three years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth, career-spanning interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Halsey, Neil Young, the National, Questlove, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, Donald Fagen, Phil Collins, Alicia Keys, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, Gary Clark Jr., and many more — plus dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with IndieLand’s critics and reporters. Tune in every Friday at 1 p.m. ET to hear IndieLand Music Now broadcast live from SiriusXM’s studios on Volume, channel 106.