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According to McCartney, John Lennon sparked the breakup.

For many years, it has been assumed that the instigator of the breakup of one of the most popular music groups in history, The Beatles, was on the shoulders of its bassist, Sir Paul McCartney. Back in 70s, when McCartney released his solo album, he claimed he was on a break from the group, and the fans drew the obvious conclusion. However, in a recent BBC interview, McCartney shed some new light on the group going their separate ways, laying the blame on its guitarist, John Lennon.

“I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny,” McCartney said. “I am not the person who instigated the split.

“Oh no, no, no. John walked into a room one day and said I am leaving the Beatles. And he said, ‘It’s quite thrilling, it’s rather like a divorce.’ And then we were left to pick up the pieces.”

When asked if the band could have continued following Lennon’s departure, McCartney said “It could have.”

“The point of it really was that John was making a new life with Yoko and he wanted… to lie in bed for a week in Amsterdam for peace. You couldn’t argue with that. It was the most difficult period of my life.”

“This was my band, this was my job, this was my life,” he added. “I wanted it to continue. I thought we were doing some pretty good stuff – Abbey Road, Let It Be, not bad – and I thought we could continue.”

Apparently, the band needed to keep Lennon’s departure quiet for several months, as there were still obligations that needed to be fulfilled. “It was weird because we all knew it was the end of the Beatles but we couldn’t just walk away.”