John Lennon Believed a Beatles Reunion Was ‘Quite Possible’

John Lennon said he lost interest in The Beatles when he met Yoko Ono. He remained in the band until 1969 when he told Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr that he wanted to move on. The band’s split was acrimonious, with the former Beatles insulting each other in interviews and songs. By the early 1970s, though, Lennon told a friend that he believed in the possibility of a reunion.

John Lennon was optimistic about a Beatles reunion by the early 1970s

In 1973, Lennon sat down with his friend, Elliot Mintz, for an interview. Mintz noted in his book, We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me, that he asked the question that was on everyone’s mind at the time.

“After carefully pulling out of the McDonald’s lot, I cautiously navigated to a surprisingly desolate stretch of beach near the Malibu pier, where the camera crew taped John and me talking about everything from his new album to his memories of Beatlemania to the ultimate question on everybody’s mind — and the one John had been asked at least a thousand times before: the possibility of a Beatles reunion.”

While Lennon had made his irritation with The Beatles no secret, he said he was still open to a reunion.

“‘It’s quite possible, yes,’ he said as we sat on the sand. ‘I don’t know why the hell we’d do it, but it’s possible.’”

He added that it wouldn’t even be a chore for her. If they were to reunite, he’d feel happy about it.

“I go on instinct,” he said. “If the idea hits me tomorrow, I might call them and say, ‘Come on, let’s do something.’ So, I couldn’t really tell you. If it happens, it’ll happen.”

Lennon insisted that by that point, he had let go of the anger and aggravation he felt in the 1960s.

“No, no, all my memories are now all fond and the wounds have all healed,” he said. “If we do it, we do it. If we record, we record.”

John Lennon was the first to leave The Beatles

While many have long blamed Paul McCartney for breaking up the band, he insisted that the blame lies with Lennon.

“I didn’t instigate the split,” McCartney told The Guardian. “That was our Johnny.”

Lennon was with Ono and wanted to move on in his personal and professional life.

“The point of it really was that John was making a new life with Yoko,” McCartney said. “John had always wanted to sort of break loose from society because, you know, he was brought up by his Aunt Mimi, who was quite repressive, so he was always looking to break loose.”

The remaining members knew there was no path forward for them, but their manager insisted that they keep the split a secret.

“So for a few months we had to pretend,” McCartney explained. “It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles but we couldn’t just walk away.”

He didn’t speak about the band as though he wanted a reunion

According to Lennon’s girlfriend at the time, May Pang, he still spoke disparagingly about his former band. She claimed that he found the band’s music dull and unimportant.

“[His solo albums] would make a meaningful statement and not be wallpaper music — the term John and Yoko used to describe the music of The Beatles,” Pang wrote in her book Loving John. “He was also determined that it be more successful than McCartney’s solo albums.”