So much is known about The Beatles, as interest in the band has remained incredibly high for decades, ever since they took over the world in the mid-’60s. Countless fans, journalists, documentarians, and historians have attempted to answer every question related to the musicians, but one big query remains: how did they get their name? It seems like a simple ask, but it’s one that no one can answer definitively – not even one of the members of the group.
In the latest episode of his iHeartRadio and Pushkin podcast Paul McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, the Beatles singer, songwriter, and musician opened up about the band’s name and how it came to be–though he couldn’t share any definitive answers. “The actual origin of it is clouded in mystery,” McCartney confirmed, essentially admitting that even he doesn’t remember.
While he can’t confirm or deny any of the possibilities that have been presented throughout the years, McCartney did share what he remembers of that time. “My memory of it was that we went striving to find something with a dual meaning,” the famous musician commented during a discussion of the forming of the group. He also said that he and his fellow bandmates may have been thinking of double entendres and names with more than one meaning “because of The Crickets.”
In the absence of a definitive backstory of the name The Beatles, many fans and music lovers have come up with their own possible ideas of what may have happened, and McCartney mentioned this as well during the podcast episode. “There are all sorts of theories about this,” the rocker mused about the many, many stories he’s probably heard throughout the years.
McCartney even explained one of the crazier thoughts about the name The Beatles, seemingly having fun with the thought. “There’s the wild ones with Marlon Brando and at one point Lee Marvin says ‘Hey, Johnny…The Beatles love you’. It turns out the girls in the motorcycle gang were called Beatles,” the Grammy favorite shared, mentioning a movie from the time that may have influenced their branding. “And I know John and Stuart [Sutcliffe], his art school friend, loved that film, as we all did. I think they’d seen it,” McCartney mentioned, referring to one of the earliest musicians who was involved with the group before they conquered the world.
McCartney recently launched season two of his podcast Paul McCartney: A Life in Lyrics. The series debuted in October 2023 and was an immediate smash success. The program sees McCartney speaking with his friend and collaborator Paul Muldoon about some of the stories behind not just The Beatles’ most beloved hits, but ones he released as a soloist and a member of Wings.
