Skip to main content

TL;DR:

  • John Lennon felt The Beatles’ fans should like Queen and The Clash.
  • He didn’t want people to focus on The Beatles too much.
  • Brian May of Queen met two members of the Fab Four.
Queen's Freddie Mercury with a flag
Queen’s Freddie Mercury | FG/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images

John Lennon said The Beatles’ fans should listen to Queen. In addition, he felt The Beatles’ music should be consumed carefully. Notably, Freddie Mercury became close to one of the Fab Four.

John Lennon was a fan of Elvis Presley but he refused to see him in concert

During a 1980 interview in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John discussed why he didn’t want to see Elvis Presley in concert even though he was a devoted fan of Elvis’ early work. “I am only interested in now and what I am doing now,” he said. 

“I will talk about The Beatles forever and ever,” John added. “I will discuss them intellectually and what they mean and what they don’t mean. That doesn’t bother me.” 

John Lennon wanted The Beatles’ fans to embrace Queen and The Clash instead of focusing on The Beatles alone

Despite this, John didn’t want to deal with some of The Beatles’ fans. “What does is the idea that people think we can recreate it for them — for the kids who keep writing me saying, ‘I’m only 14 now and I missed it,'” he said. “I think that’s pathetic. I mean forget about that.” 

John felt The Beatles’ fans should stay up-to-date when they listen to music. “Listen to the Beatles records, but dig Queen or Clash or whatever is going on now,” he said. “And for the ones who want to relive it, ‘Resurrect The Beatles’ and all, for those who didn’t understand The Beatles and the ’60s in the first place, what the f*** are we going to do for them now? Do we have to divide the fish and the loaves for the multitudes again?”

Related

Alice Cooper Said It’d Be Harder to Write The Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ Than Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

Queen’s Brian May felt young people are more familiar with his band than they are with The Beatles

John’s comments are notable given comments by Queen’s Brain May. During a 2022 interview with the Daily Express, May said the Fab Four were a huge influence on Queen. In his opinion, The Beatles were the greatest musicians of all time, and he had no reservations about saying he loved them.

May felt Queen overshadowed The Beatles in the minds of many youngsters. He wished the younger generation was more aware of The Beatles’ music. 

In addition, May said he met Paul McCartney a couple of times. May was impressed by Paul as a person and praised his animal rights activism. May also crossed paths with Ringo Starr briefly, and though the two stars never had an in-depth conversation. Notably, Ringo was close to Freddie Mercury at one time.

May never met John. He wishes he had. The Queen member praised John’s singing voice and musical talent.

John wanted Queen to be popular and May felt Queen eventually overshadowed The Beatles.

Best in Entertainment