The Beatles Donated Fan Gifts to Hospitals
The Beatles received everything from jewelry to bras to cakes from their listeners. With so much excess, Ringo Starr explained that they would gift sweets to hospitals. Here’s what we learned from a 1964 press conference featuring the “Let It Be” artists.
The Beatles received gifts from fans — including cakes and bras
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were the Fab Four members behind the Beatles, earning international praise. They became one of the first UK-based bands to score big in America, sparking “Beatlemania” among listeners.
When fans saw these performers in person, some screamed, cried, and even fainted. As a result, the Beatles were the recipients of lavish and even strange gifts from this “exuberant” fan base.
“I once received a bra,” Lennon joked in a 1964 interview with Larry Kane (via Beatles Interviews), “with ‘I Love John’ embroidered on it. I thought it was pretty original. I didn’t keep it, mind you — It didn’t fit.”
This wasn’t the only time the artists commented on fan gifts. Sometimes, they would receive cakes.
The Beatles donated cakes to hospitals — ‘we can’t eat all that cake’
During a 1964 press conference in Kansas City, the Beatles were asked about the “tons of gifts” they receive from fans. Some were good, and some were bad. The reporter asked these musicians what happens with the excess.
“Some of them get shipped to England,” Ringo Starr said (via Beatles Interviews). “If we get cakes and that, we try and get the fella who is promoting the show to give [them] to hospitals, because we can’t eat all that cake.”
The Beatles sometimes visited children in hospitals, with Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison appearing next to a sick child in one photograph. The artists were also asked about receiving jewelry, to which the drummer responded, “well, I’ve got a caseful, man, if you want to route through it, and see what you like.”
John Lennon felt a ‘particular discomfort’ around people with disabilities
Even as solo artists some Beatles members advocated for peace. That’s especially true of Lennon, whose activism bled into songs like “Give Peace a Chance,” “Imagine,” and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” Lennon and Yoko Ono often attended protests and peace rallies in the 1970s.
Still, these artists weren’t always excited to perform at charity events and meet fans. During her memoir, John, Lennon’s ex-wife said the band pausing live performances meant the end of the “particular discomfort” Lennon felt around people with disabilities.
“John had always reacted badly to disability so for him, this was little short of a nightmare,” she wrote. “In our student days, he’d mocked the disabled and drawn ghoulish cartoons of cripples.”
“For some reason, disability terrified him, though he could never admit it,” she continued. “It made him feel inadequate and guilty.”
