When Let It Be arrived in 1970, it was meant to signal a fresh start for The Beatles—a stripped-down return to the camaraderie that once defined them. Instead, the sessions exposed deep fractures, with creative clashes and personal resentments spilling into the music, leaving some historians and fans to view the release as the moment the world’s biggest band could no longer hold itself together.
On Sunday, March 1, Far Out Magazine compiled a list of albums that left musicians “cursed,” and Let It Be took the No. 1 spot. The album was one of the final projects of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
“It was a disaster,” biographer Barry Miles previously wrote, according to the outlet. “Paul bossed George around; George was moody and resentful. John would not even go to the bathroom without Yoko at his side … The tension was palpable.”
And many fans would agree that Let It Be was the beginning of the end for The Beatles.
“‘Let It Be’ is a project that was scarred by the huge shadow of resentment the Beatles had for each other when it finally came out,” Giles Martin, son of late Beatles producer Sir George Martin, previously told People magazine. “That’s what we remember about it.”
And while Let It Be was the last album released by The Beatles, they actually recorded Abbey Road after that. Nevertheless, Let It Be often takes the blame for being the album that ultimately broke up the band in April 1970.
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