Although The Beatles, with all four members, had their final recording session on 20 August 1969, it wasn't until the end of 1974 that the band officially split up. The moment that forever changed pop music is commemorated in a document signed by all Beatles members. Gotta Have Rock and Roll, an auction house specialising in music memorabilia, currently offers this historical document – and now it can be yours to own.
The Break-Up of The Beatles
On 18 August 1962, Ringo Starr joined The Beatles, and the Fab Four, as we now know them, was formed. The band gradually became the world's biggest pop culture phenomenon, but issues within the band started to arise. Peter Jackson's acclaimed documentary The Beatles: Get Back from 2021 covers the making of the last Beatles album. Viewers can feel the tension between the four, and it is easy to see that the end was not far away. Drummer Ringo Starr had already left the group for a two-week period in 1968, and guitarist George Harrison quit the band for five days at the beginning of 1969. Fast forward to August of the same year, John Lennon informed his bandmates that he'd leave The Beatles. In April 1970, Paul McCartney finally publicly announced that he would quit the band. Nonetheless, the dissolution of The Beatles wasn't official until 1974.
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The Important 1974 Document
The document, which formalised the dissolution of The Beatles, was signed by all four band members: George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr (as Richard Starkey). Harrison and Lennon signed the document twice – both as band members, but also as Directors of Apple Corps Ltd., the record label which they founded in 1968 to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd).
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The plan was to sign the document in New York on 19 December. Ringo Starr had already signed the document and would be present on the phone. McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon would, however, be present in-person to sign the agreement. The latter, however, did not show up, resulting in McCartney and Harrison signing the contract. Ten days later, Lennon was on vacation in Florida at Disney World. A lawyer met up with Lennon and gave him the agreement that was fully signed, with the exception of Lennon's two signatures. Lennon added his signatures, and the document was dated accurately – and The Beatles were officially over.
Gotta Have Rock and Roll has put an estimate for the lot at $300,000 – $500,000 (about £235,00 - 390,000), a relatively low estimate considering the significance of the document. The auction ends on 30 June.
Other Remarkable Items At Auction
The auction is available online on Gotta Have It Rock and Roll's website and features 600+ spectacular lots. Besides the break-up document, other remarkable Beatles items are being offered for sale, such as a handwritten Beatles setlist, which is also signed by all members (estimate: $300,000 – $500,000). Another spectacular item is the band's 1968 White Album, beautifully signed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney ($50,000 – $75,000).
Looking at non-Beatles items, we find many spectacular guitars personally owned and played by some of the all-time greats, such as Elvis Presley ($100,000 – $150,000), Keith Richards ($50,000 – $75,000), David Gilmour ($30,000 – $40,000), and David Bowie ($15,000 – $20,000).
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Other very impressive items in the auction are handwritten Lay Lady Lay lyrics by Bob Dylan ($500,000 – $750,000), as well as handwritten lyrics by Robert Plant to the classic Led Zeppelin song Kashmir ($100,000 – $150,000).
The Most Expensive Music Memorabilia Ever Sold
In 2019, The Beatles' first management contract with Brian Epstein sold for $345,000 (around £270,000), making it one of the most expensive Beatles memorabilia ever to be sold. A couple of years earlier, handwritten lyrics by John Lennon to A Day in the Life went for a whopping $1.2 million (around £940,000).
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As for the most expensive music memorabilia items ever to be sold, the top items are played instruments. Kurt Cobain's 1959 Martin D-18E, which he used during Nirvana's iconic 'MTV Unplugged' performance in 1993, tops the list with $6 million (£4.7 mil). That is followed by The Black Strat, a Fender Stratocaster owned by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, which sold for $5.3 million (£4.1 mil) in a charity auction. Unforgettable are the Beatles instruments that have been sold in seven-figure amounts. Ringo Starr's Ludwig drum head, used during The Beatles' Ed Sullivan appearance in 1964, and John Lennon's Gibson J-160E – both selling for above $2 million (£1.5 mil).