The Beatles (Paul McCartney; Ringo Starr; George Harrison; John Lennon)

1 portrait of Paul McCartney

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© Paul McCartney

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The Beatles (Paul McCartney; Ringo Starr; George Harrison; John Lennon)

by Linda McCartney
platinum print, 1967
13 7/8 in. x 21 3/4 in. (352 mm x 552 mm)
Given by the photographer, Linda McCartney, 1994
Primary Collection
NPG P577

Sittersback to top

Artistback to top

  • Linda McCartney (1941-1998), Photographer, artist, musician, businesswoman, cookery writer and animal rights activist. Artist or producer of 14 portraits, Sitter in 10 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 97 Read entry

    The most famous Britons of the 1960s, The Beatles – Sir Paul McCartney (b.1942), Sir Ringo Starr (b.1940), George Harrison (1943-2001) and John Lennon (1940-80) - sold 150 million albums during the decade. On 19 May 1967 selected journalists and broadcasters were invited to the Belgravia home of their manager Brian Epstein, to meet the band and hear the group’s forthcoming album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. American-born Linda Eastman (1941-98), a photographer for music-industry magazines, had come to London to photograph British bands for the book Rock and Other Four Letter Words (1968). She recalled: ‘I went to the press launch where Sgt. Pepper was played for the first time to the media, to take my first photographs of The Beatles.’ She later married McCartney and settled in London.

  • Parris, Matthew, Heroes and Villains: Scarfe at the National Portrait Gallery, 2003 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 30 September 2003 to 4 April 2004), p. 34
  • Ribeiro, Aileen, The Gallery of Fashion, 2000, p. 237
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 739

Events of 1967back to top

Current affairs

Harold Wilson decides to devalue the pound by nearly 15% in order to ' break out from the straitjacket' of boom and bust economics. The decision was controversial and prompted Wilson to reassure the public that the 'pound in your pocket' would not be worth any less.

Art and science

The Beatles release Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, with a record sleeve designed by pop artist, Peter Blake. The band's musical experimentation and colourful new look was an example of psychedelic, and the LP is often regarded as one of the first concept albums.

International

Che Guevara is captured and executed in Bolivia. The guerrilla leader and revolutionary icon was hunted down by the CIA and captured and shot by Bolivian Special Forces. He had been leading Bolivian insurgents in an attempt to overthrow the government.

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