Today in History: The Beatles Won an Oscar
The Beatles received a number of Grammy awards, but in 1971, they joined a prestigious group of musicians who have won an Oscar. By the time they won, the band had already broken up, and the relationships between the former members were publicly fraught. They did not appear at the ceremony to accept the award, but the four of them are now permanently known as Oscar winners.
The Beatles’ film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ received 2 Oscar nominations
The 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night brought The Beatles their first brush with the Academy Awards. While the Academy recognized none of the band members for their acting, the film received nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Score. They had no experience as actors, but the film received positive reviews from pleasantly surprised critics.
“This is going to surprise you — it may knock you right out of your chair — but the new film with those incredible chaps, the Beatles, is a whale of a comedy,” critic Bosley Crowther wrote for The New York Times. “This first fiction film of the Beatles… has so much good humor going for it that it is awfully hard to resist.”
The film’s success paved the way for a series of other Beatles films: Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, and Yellow Submarine.
The Beatles won an Oscar in 1971
While fans enjoyed the other Beatles films, they did not receive Oscar nominations. It wasn’t until April 15, 1971 that the band received recognition from the Academy Awards for the film Let It Be. The film follows the band as they record their final studio album, Let It Be, and prepare for a rooftop concert.
Viewers widely considered the film to be a chronicling of The Beatles’ break up because of the tense dynamic it captured. Because of this, it was a challenging watch for the former members of the band. In 1971, long after they had announced their breakup, the band won their first and only Oscar for Best Original Song Score. They were not present at the ceremony, so Quincy Jones accepted the Oscar on their behalf.
“This is fantastic,” he said, per the Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Database. “I just wanted an excuse to get close to it. And I wish that the Beatles were all here together tonight to receive this, but I have to get back to conduct the orchestra. On their behalf, thank you very much.”
Paul McCartney received two more nominations
The Oscar the band received for Let It Be was their first and only win at the ceremony. After their break up, though, Paul McCartney went on to pick up two more nominations at the Oscars.
In 1974, he received a nomination for Best Music, Original Song for “Live and Let Die” from the James Bond film of the same title. He received another nomination in 2002 for the song “Vanilla Sky” from the movie of the same title. Without the rest of The Beatles, though, he has not won another Oscar.
