So when did the public actually know? The world found out on April 10, 1970, when Paul's "interview" hit the papers. The headline screamed: "Paul McCartney Announces Breakup." John was furious because Paul stole his thunder. Ringo Starr, bless his heart, was just happy to finally get a good night's sleep. For the next five years, they'd snipe at each other in songs: John wrote "How Do You Sleep?" about Paul, and Paul wrote "Too Many People" about John. It was like a grudge match set to music.
Eventually, they all realized something. The great irony is that they hated each other less as a band than they did as ex-bandmates. By the late 1970s, they were hanging out again, playing on each other's records. John and Paul even jammed together in 1974, recording a track that wouldn't be released for decades. That's the lesson: the Beatles broke up in 1970, but they were also always the Beatles. The split wasn't a death—it was a really, really awkward separation that took five years to finalize. So next time someone asks, just say they broke up twice: once emotionally in 1969, and once legally in 1974. And that they spent the rest of their lives missing the argument.
