Still Love The Beatles

(Newser) - The symbol of the royal honor John Lennon didn't want has been found forgotten in a royal vault, the Times of London reports. Lennon was awarded the Member of the British Empire honor in 1965—prompting some others to turn in theirs—but sent it back to the palace in 1969 as a peace protest. Beatles fans hope the plaque can now go to a museum. More »

(Newser) - John Lennon is starring in a new television commercial for charity 28 years after his death, the Telegraph reports. Thanks to digital technology, the Beatles legend's voice can be heard urging Americans to purchase low-cost computers for the world’s poorest children in the ad for One Laptop per Child. "You change the world," he says. More »

(Newser) - A 1973 tape of a boozy John Lennon slurring his way through Lloyd Price's Just Because fetched $30,000 at auction in Los Angeles yesterday, CNN reports. Because of Lennon's intoxication and raunchy, ad-libbed lyrics, “it's actually a fun song to listen to,” said a spokeswoman for the auction house. The buyer was not identified. More »

(Newser) - A tape never released to the public showcasing a boozed-up, raunchy John Lennon is set for auction in Los Angeles today, and will likely fetch up to $40,000, the New York Post reports. Belting an intoxicated rewrite of the Lloyd Price song Just Because , Lennon advises listeners that “I wanna take all them new singers, Carol and the other one, I wanna take 'em and hold 'em tight.” More »

(Newser) - In a revelation that will likely befuddle longtime Beatles fans, Paul McCartney claims he was the one who turned the band onto politics, the Times reports. Though McCartney was writing pop songs while activist John Lennon penned blatantly political tunes, as McCartney tells it in a Prospect magazine interview, it was he who met with pacifist Bertrand Russell in the 1960s and brought his anti-Vietnam message back to his bandmates. More »

(Newser) - A 1911 document that lists “E. Rigby” among the employees of a Liverpool hospital sold at auction for $177,000 yesterday, failing to match hopes of a $750,000 haul for the Beatles relic, Reuters reports. The possible inspiration for the song "Eleanor Rigby" is a salary register signed by scullerymaid E. Rigby. Paul McCartney sent it to a music charity in 1990 in response to a donation request, the group's head says. More »

(Newser) - Don't expect to download Hey Jude any time soon. Negotiations between the Beatles' label, EMI, their holding company, Apple Corps, and Apple Inc. to release the legendary band's hits on iTunes and other internet music services have stalled, reports AP. Bad feelings remain between the two Apples over their long-running trademark dispute.   More »

(Newser) - The Vatican forgave John Lennon today for saying the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, Reuters reports. Calling the 1966 remark "a boast,” the Vatican's newspaper said it was made "by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success." The paper also praised the Beatles' music, saying "the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time.” More »