Liverpool’s “number one Beatles fan” who was responsible for getting statues put up of the Fab Four and streets named after their iconic songs has died.
John James Chambers died aged 76 on August 9 at home in his living room, his grandsons Ben, 16, and Louis, 33, told the ECHO. Born and raised on Ashbank Road in Norris Green, Mr Chambers dedicated his life to preserving the memory of Liverpool’s homegrown musical heroes – as well as caring for his ill mum and looking after his beloved cats, Ginger, Tortie and Socks.
Ben describes his grandad as an “angel who touched so many lives” through his celebration of the band, and as a family man who “loved his two girls so much, and his grandkids”.
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He said: "He was the number one Beatles fan in the world. He founded the fan club and got some of the famous statues built, he helped with Penny Lane and other streets in Kensington being named after them. He was an inspiration to anyone who had anything to do with the Beatles."
Ben said his grandad’s house was filled with Beatles memorabilia, and even when some at home turned their back on the band following their move to America, he never gave up on them.
Mr Chambers grew up listening to the band, and as a Liverpool native he committed himself to keeping their memory alive.
His favourite song in the world was Imagine, and now his grandkids are calling on the surviving Beatles to pay tribute to his lifetime of dedication.
Having appeared in this newspaper multiple times through his work with the Liverpool Beatles Appreciation Society (LBAS), which he founded in 1977, Mr Chambers was behind some of the city’s most famous Beatles sites.
The LBAS campaigned for seven years to get a Fab Four statue – made by sculptor John Doubleday – put up in Cavern Walk, and it was eventually finished in 1984.
In 2014, Mr Chambers and the group led the charge for a new Beatles statue , called She Loves You (which is yet to be made) in honour of the band’s 1963 all-time best selling UK hit.
That same year, Mr Chambers helped organise a vigil for John Lennon on the 34th anniversary of his death at the band’s statue in Cavern Walks. Fans lay candles and memorabilia in memory of Lennon, who was shot dead in New York City on 8 December 1980, aged just 40.
At the time, Mr Chambers said: “Even though he’s been gone 34 years today, he would still appreciate and like that we use the anniversary to continue promoting his philosophy and thoughts.”
Mr Chambers’s funeral will be held at Anfield Crematorium on August 19, at 9.20am.
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