In a remarkable new revelation, an unseen interview with George Harrison provides a candid account of the real reasons behind The Beatles' earth-shattering breakup. This exclusive footage forms the centrepiece of a newly expanded ninth episode of The Beatles Anthology, now available on Disney+.
The Emotional Reunion and John's Absence
The newly restored material includes intimate footage from 1994, when the three surviving Beatles—George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr—reunited at Harrison's Friar Park home. They collaborated on finishing two old John Lennon demos, Free As A Bird and Real Love, creating a poignant postscript to their legendary career.
Harrison immediately strikes a melancholic tone, expressing sorrow for their fallen bandmate. "I feel a bit sorry that John wasn't able to do that," he confesses to the cameras. "I think he would have really enjoyed this opportunity to be with us again. We'd all had enough time to breathe, and I think it's much easier to look at it now from a distance."
The footage shows the trio comfortably jamming on old rock 'n' roll tunes, with Paul grinning widely and a relaxed Ringo in sunglasses. George, however, appears more contemplative, though he acknowledges their unique chemistry: "There is a certain harmony. We do lock in together very easily. It kind of sounds like The Beatles without much effort."
The Real Reason for The Fab Four's Split
Moving beyond the well-documented creative tensions, Harrison identifies a singular, overwhelming cause for the band's dissolution: unrelenting stress.
"You know, we were so stressed out," Harrison explains. "We've been through every riot and jam... the noise, people yelling at us all the time and being confined to a little room or a plane or a car." He describes being constantly ushered from room to room, a phenomenon they normalised because it was their ongoing reality.
Their Liverpool-born humour and the solidarity of being a foursome acted as a buffer. "We all had each other to dilute the stress," he recalls. Ringo Starr echoes this sentiment, revealing, "We were lucky that there were four of us to take that pressure. Four of us held each other together... I was an only child, and suddenly I had three brothers."
But eventually, the pressure became intolerable. Harrison states plainly, "There was a point where, you know, enough was enough. And I think that's really was the major contributor to The Beatles splitting up... We all just wanted out, you know, give us a bit of peace."
Light-Hearted Moments and Lasting Bonds
Despite discussing the difficult split, the new episode is filled with warmth and the band's trademark humour. During the studio sessions at Paul McCartney's home, George quips about Paul's "vegetarian leather jacket," sending Ringo into fits of laughter.
In a moment of playful banter that hints at healed rifts, George jokes, "Paul and I are gonna do some stadiums next year." Paul instantly retorts, "Mud wrestling together, I think we could pull it off too," with Ringo quickly volunteering, "I'll be the ref."
The bond that began in Liverpool in 1960 is palpable. They share fond memories of their early days, including Ringo and Paul sharing a room. "Paul was the only one who'd sleep with me," Ringo jokes, while Paul remembers the young drummer being afraid of the dark and sleeping with the light on.
The Beatles' Eternal Legacy
Looking toward the future, the "quiet Beatle" offers a spiritual perspective on the band's immortality. "The Beatles, you know, will go on and on, on those records and films and videos and books and in people's memories or minds," Harrison reflects. "The Beatles has just become its own thing now. And the Beatles, I think, exist without us."
The ninth episode concludes on a profoundly moving note, with the three friends sitting in the sunny garden at Friar Park. Ringo tells his bandmates, "This has been a really nice day for me chaps. It's been really beautiful and moving. I like hanging out with you two guys." Paul simply adds, "It's been a very nice day, thanks for having us George."
This peaceful gathering in June 1994 stands in stark contrast to their final reunion in November 2001, when they met for lunch in New York as George was battling lung cancer. He passed away just two weeks later at the age of 58, making this Anthology footage some of the last and most insightful recordings of the trio together.
The expanded Beatles Anthology, including the pivotal eighth and ninth episodes, is streaming now on Disney+.
