The Women

The Beatles were four heterosexual males who had achieved superstar status in their early 20's. Women screamed their heads off and would do anything just to touch one of them, but they could only marry one. This is a summary of the lucky ladies (or unlucky, depending on how you view it) who called themselves Beatle girlfriends and wives.


JOHN'S WOMEN

Cynthia Lennon

Cynthia Lennon in 1965.

Cynthia was a year older than John when they met at Liverpool Art College in 1958. Their relationship began very stormy with Lennon susceptible to fits of jealousy and violence towards her but she was besotted with John, having sex with him wherever and whenever she could and after a 3 month split caused by a bout of jealous rage, she accepted him back into her life after he apologised profusely for his errors. In 1962 when the Beatles were finally on the right track Cynthia dropped a bombshell on John "I'm pregnant" she said to him when they were alone.

This stunned John into silence and one can only imagine the turmoil screaming through his head: would he have to give up the Beatles? His big chance at fame? They were finally onto something now with Brian Epstein as their manager. In those days, having a child and not being married was frowned upon, so on the 23rd of August 1962, Cynthia & John tied the knot at Mount Pleasant Registry office in Liverpool with George Harrison and Paul McCartney in attendance and Brian Epstein as best man. No photographs were taken or parents were in attendance and the ceremony was farcical with a pneumatic drill drowning out everything the registrar said but in the end, Cynthia came out of there as Mrs. Lennon, more or less.

Julian was born in April 1963 although John, on tour with the Beatles, wasn't present and didn't see him until 3 days later, which he announced he was buggering off on holiday with Brian to Barcelona. Cynthia probably knew that it was useless to complain when it came to John Lennon of the Beatles. A year later they were as famous as you could get and Cynthia had the house, the cars and the money to prove it but she also had the rumours of John's infidelity to put up with.

In 1967, Cynthia started to notice a small Asian woman following them wherever they went. This woman was always posting cards through the door and ringing their house. John at first dismissed her calls as "some nutter looking for money for her Avant-Garde bullshit" but the woman was persistent and when Cynthia came back from a holiday to Greece she discovered John and the woman sitting in dressing gowns in the kitchen. With it pretty obvious what had been going on, John later informed her of his intention to be with this woman, who was known as Yoko Ono, for the rest of his life.

Cynthia married 3 times after John and towards the end of her life she was living on the Island of Majorca in Spain. She has published two memoirs of her life with Lennon: A Twist of Lennon in 1978; and John in 2005. Cynthia died of cancer in 2015.




 
Yoko Ono Lennon

Yoko Ono in the 1970s

There are many entertainment sites on the internet devoted to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Love her or hate her, you have to give Yoko her due. Born in 1933 in Tokyo, Japan there are conflicting reports over how John and Yoko actually met. The "official" story as told by them is that it was a chance meeting and that Yoko had never heard of the Beatles. The facts are that John attended a pre-showing of an exhibition she was putting on at the Indica Gallery in London and how he climbed a step ladder with a magnifying glass to see the word "Yes" written in small ink on the ceiling. John loved it and they got together soon afterwards at Kenwood and the rest is very famous history.

Another report from Paul McCartney is that she came round to his house in late 1965 looking for some original compositions she was compiling for her artist friend John Cage. Paul told her bugger off so she went and asked John, who gave her the handwritten lyrics to 'The Word'. That would seem to coincide with Cynthia's report of her popping up and stalking Lennon. Fans also report seeing her at the gates of Kenwood screaming for John, hanging around the Apple offices on the off chance that he might come out.

Another report is that John couldn't stand her and thought that just by shagging her she'd go away. That must have been one hell of a shag as he came back saying he couldn't bear to be without her and from that moment on they were inseparable. John even had a roll out bed installed in his Rolls Royce so they could shag in transit. They married in March 1969 in Gibraltar as Yoko apparently wasn't allowed to get married on mainland Britain. They were together from that point on and she is cited as the main reason the Beatles split up as she was "always there, whispering in John's ears and sitting on George's blue cushion" during the Let It Be sessions and then they brought a double bed into the studio during sessions for Abbey Road after injuries sustained in a recent car accident in Scotland and set up a microphone so she could give her comments.

They had a brief separation in 1974 where John took off to California but they reconciled and in 1975 Yoko gave birth on John's 35th birthday to Sean. This was the same time that John decided to retire as his recording contract had expired. For 5 years Lennon remained inactive on the recording front and then, reportedly after hearing his old band mate Paul McCartney's 1980 hit 'Coming Up' John decided it was time to get back to making records. Double Fantasy was the last ever record he would make when he was assassinated in front of his and Yoko's apartment building, the Dakota in New York City on December 8th 1980 after returning from a recording session. Since Lennon's death, Yoko has remained active to keeping his memory alive, she's done some questionable things in that pursuit, such as putting the clothes he was wearing the night he was murdered on display. She still lives in the Dakota.

PAUL'S WOMEN


Jane Asher

Jane Asher in the mid 1960's

Jane Asher was probably the most famous of the Beatle girlfriends and wives at the time she dated Paul McCartney. She was already an accomplished actress when he entered her life. All the Beatles fancied her after seeing her on the music show Juke Box Jury however, when the Radio Times sent her to interview them backstage at the Royal Albert Hall in 1963 they were surprised to see she was a redhead. They'd been under the assumption she was blonde due to black and white TV.

Paul reportedly began chatting her up on the subject of gravy and their favourite meal and they soon began dating. Jane influenced Paul critically in the early years of Beatlemania, they soaked up the theater scene and he regularly attended plays she was appearing in. Jane only ever remained a girlfriend of Paul's though despite an engagement announced in late 1967. Jane wouldn't name a day and their relationship was rocky, there was a tense moment when Jane threatened to leave Paul for a bloke in Bristol she'd been seeing.

Paul was obviously no angel either, shagging here, shagging there, shagging everywhere when Jane was away on tour. It finally came to a head one day when he was openly shagging an American woman who was loosely employed at Apple. Jane came back to Cavendish to find the two of them at it. Jane promptly left, announcing a few days later that it was over and they "might meet again and get married when they're 70" it's safe to say that this won't be happening and Jane has remained tight lipped about her relationship with Paul to this day.

Jane married in 1981 after a ten year relationship and is still married and acting today. One of the conditions of interviewing her is no questions about the Beatles' bass guitarist or you won't get a piece of her lovely cake.


Linda McCartney

Linda McCartney in the late 1960's

Linda Eastman was NOT a member of the Eastman/Kodak family. She was the daughter of a New York Lawyer and when she met Paul McCartney in the Bag O' Nails nightclub in London and got invited to the launch of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967 she knew she wasn't going to waste her chance. Linda had vowed that one day she would marry Paul McCartney and that day was inching closer and closer.

They met on and off for a few months until in September 1968 Paul made her come to London and from then on their relationship blossomed and they married in March 1969. They remained together and apparently inseparable. When the Beatles finally broke up, Paul asked her if she'd like to be in a band with him playing keyboards. Wings was born along with two children, Mary and Stella.

Wings continued in various line ups but the core members being Paul, Linda and guitarist Denny Laine. Wings' wings were clipped rather spectacularly in January 1980 when Paul was arrested in Japan for bringing a huge bag of Marijuana into the country and had to spend 10 days in Jail. After that Paul heard some tragic news from New York City and the McCartney's stayed relatively low key for much of the 1980's until Paul decided to go out on the road again with Linda on keyboards. the 1989/1990 world tours and another tour in 1993 were hugely successful and she launched a line of Vegetarian meat free foods that still are being sold today but as Paul completed work on the Beatles Anthology, Linda discovered she had Breast Cancer.

For two years they battled it but it sadly was in vain. Linda McCartney died in Arizona in 1998 with her family by her side.


Heather Mills 

Heather Mills in the 2000's

When Heather Mills walked into Paul's life at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain award ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel in London in April, 1999, Paul was instantly attracted to her, despite her being 27 years his junior. He had very recently lost his soul-mate, Linda, to cancer, and Paul seemed to be very much looking for love in all the wrong places.

The two married in 2002, Heather joining the famous ranks of "wives of the Beatles," and a year later they had daughter, Beatrice. The marriage was stable at first but then Heather began to talk a little bit too freely about their marriage.

When these reports began to surface, Heather started taking a lot of flak from Paul's considerable fan base and the British media also got in on the act, digging up her past and accusing her of being a liar and a fantasist, when Heather demanded an apology for the alleged false claims that the media had made, they refused and publicly goaded her again. After a brief separation Paul filed for divorce from Heather in 2006 citing "irreconcilable differences" and the media moved in, digging up every last thing they could about her and reporting it. The divorce was granted and Paul moved on with his life.




Nancy Shevell

Nancy Shevell on her wedding to Paul McCartney in London on October 9th, 2011.

After the Heather palava, Nancy Shevell became more prominent in Paul's life. I say more prominent as she had been an aquaintance of Paul for nearly 20 years due to them having neighbouring homes in Long Island's Hamptons district.

They began a courtship in 2007 and Nancy is on the board of New York City's Metropolitan Transport Authority and was Vice President of her father's New Jersey trucking company. Paul and Nancy married in London on October 9th 2011 at Marylebone Registry Office. The same venue that Paul married Linda in 1969 and the date would also have been John Lennon's 71st birthday. Paul has finally found a love that lasts forever and a love that has no past. (It's in E) DON'T LET ME... oops. Sorry. Got carried away there.

“It’s just not that intriguing, not like his last marriage, which was really intriguing. I’m over 50. I work. That’s it. I haven’t been social and I have a small group of girlfriends. There really isn’t much to talk about.” - Nancy Shevell

GEORGE'S WOMEN

Pattie Boyd

Pattie Harrison in the 1960's

Pattie Boyd was a model who played the uncredited part of "Schoolgirl #1" in A Hard Day's Night in 1964. Her innocent little face and blonde hair were instantly noticed by George Harrison who proceeded to ask her out.

They dated for a couple of years before marrying in 1966 with Brian as the best man. Their relationship was solid to begin with but started unraveling when George began paying less and less attention to her, carried on his habit of shagging and when another guitarist entered the picture; Eric Clapton. It is said she was the inspiration behind George's 1969 song 'Something' although George claims otherwise but she was definitely the inspiration behind the Derek & The Dominoes hit, 'Layla,' which Clapton wrote for his unrequited love of Pattie.

Pattie eventually left George in 1974 and embarked on a relationship with Clapton. With their divorce finalized in 1977 Clapton and Boyd married in 1979 in Arizona. The marriage was unstable from the beginning with Clapton drinking and shagging scores of women and eventually having a child with one. Pattie left Eric in 1984 and their divorce was finalized in 1989. Boyd remains active in photography and published her autobiography, Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton & Me, in 2007.


Olivia Harrison

Olivia Harrison in 2013

Olivia was a cute little Mexican girl working as a receptionist in the Los Angeles office of Dark Horse Records in the early 1970's when George Harrison, the company's founder walked in. He'd spoken to her on the phone several times and began to form an attraction to her. George then asked a mutual friend to go to L.A. and take a photo of Olivia and send it to him as he wanted to know if she was as beautiful as she sounded. That never happened so George went over to see her for himself and they began a relationship with him bringing Olivia on his 1974 North American tour and marrying her in 1978. They had a son the same year, Dhani and they lived together at Friar Park. Olivia admitted that during their marriage, George did have affairs with other women but she knew what she was getting into when she married a Beatle.

In 1999 she saved George's life when a psychopath who was convinced George was the devil stormed into their Friar Park mansion and stabbed George multiple times, grabbing a nearby lamp she hit the assailant over the head knocking him out. Tom Petty later sent him a fax saying, "Aren't you glad you married a Mexican girl?" George was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1997 which was successfully treated. However, in early 2001 it came back on his lungs and had spread to his brain. He died on the 29th November 2001 with his family by his side. In the years since his death Olivia has maintained George's legacy, lending her support to the 2002 Concert For George which was organized by his old mate Eric Clapton and featured his friends from all over the music world including his most famous; Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr. Olivia continues to lend her support to charities and still lives in Friar Park.
 

RINGO'S WOMEN

Maureen Starkey

Maureen Starkey in 1965

As far as wives of the Beatles go, Maureen, or 'Mo' as she was commonly known, may have been the most lucky, in that she started off like so many other young girls, as merely a fan of the Beatles. She watched them perform at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and met Ringo Starr when a friend bet her she wouldn't kiss him. She'd already kissed Paul for the same bet. Starr's autograph was also the last she needed to complete her set, as she'd already gotten the autographs of John, Paul, and George. Soon after, the two began dating.

During the Beatles' move down to London, Maureen was kept hidden away in Liverpool until she fell pregnant. She and Starr married in February of 1965 with Brian, yet again, being the best man. George Harrison arrived on a bicycle joking, "Two down, two to go." (Harrison and McCartney being the only Beatle bachelors left.) Maureen and Ringo had a relatively nice marriage up until the Beatles split up in 1970. Ringo started drinking heavily and shagging other women. She also had a brief affair with George Harrison at this time which when Harrison told him, Starr was said to reply "Better you than someone we don't know" Lennon reportedly was not amused, angrily citing the affair as "virtual incest."

Finally, in 1975, it was agreed that enough was enough and Maureen and Ringo divorced. Depression followed and Maureen tried to commit suicide by riding a motorcycle into a brick wall. In 1976 she met Isaac Tigrett who is known as the founder of the Hard Rock Cafe chain. As those restaurants reflect his penchant for collecting Rock Memorabilia, Maureen was Isaac's "ultimate collectible" and they married in 1989.

Maureen contracted leukemia and despite bone marrow from her son, she died on 30th December 1994 surrounded by her family and her ex-husband Ringo. Paul McCartney was greatly moved by her death and wrote the song, 'Little Willow' for her and included it on his 1997 album Flaming Pie.


Barbara Bach

Barbara Bach in 1977

Barbara Bach is probably the most famous Beatle woman in her own right. An actress, she was cast as Major Anya Amasova, the Russian KGB agent in the 1977 James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me opposite Roger Moore.

It was during the filming of the 1980 movie, Caveman that she met and fell in love with her cast mate, Ringo Starr. They married a year later with Paul and George in attendance, but their initial time together was fraught with heavy alcoholism due to both their careers going downhill, and in 1988 it all came to a head. Starr almost beat Bach to a pulp during a drink fueled row. After realizing what had nearly happened, they both entered rehab in Arizona and it was successful. Both of them have been clean and sober since then and they remain happily married and very much in peace and love to this day.