By the end of the 1960s, cracks were definitely beginning to show in the fabric of the Fab Four.
The Beatles would eventually split in 1970, after years of incessant arguing and creative disagreements. However, John Lennon once traced the beginning of the end to years before this.
Lennon felt the band's days were numbered from August 27, 1967, when Brian Epstein died. Epstein was the band's manager, and the man who discovered the Beatles down a dusty alleyway in Liverpool.
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He pushed them to change their look, replaced their drummer with Ringo Starr, and got them their first number-one singles. He was extremely close with every member of the band - particularly Lennon - so when he died in 1967 the Fab Four were devastated.
Epstein was found dead at his home aged 32. He suffered a combined alcohol and barbiturate overdose. The death was ruled accidental. Lennon spoke candidly about learning of Epstein's death, and what he felt it meant for the band.
Lennon told Rolling Stone: "I was stunned. I don’t know whether you’ve had it, but I’ve had a lot of people die around me and the other feeling is: ‘What can I do?'"
When his thoughts turned to the future of the band, he added: "I knew that we were in trouble then. I didn't really have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music."
Lennon then admitted that he was full of fear about the future of the band. He added: "I was scared, I thought: ‘We’ve fu***n’ had it.'"
The following year, the Beatles released their ninth album, The White Album, but this didn't help his worries at all. In fact, after The Beatles released The White Album in November 1968, Lennon felt as if the band was completely over, he announced: "We broke up then."
Lennon looked back on the vacuum of power left by Epstein and remembered how Paul McCartney stepped up to take his place. Lennon said: "Paul took over and supposedly led us, but what is leading us, when we went round in circles?"
A matter of months later, on April 10, 1970, The Beatles announced their split. McCartney announced in a press release that he was no longer working with the band. Legal disputes continued throughout the end of the year before the band members began working on their solo music.
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