When the Beatles After their separation in 1970, they thought that was the end of the story. But they were wrong. More than 50 years later, John, Paul, George and Ringo are more influential, famous and beloved than ever. That means the world is finally catching up with one of the strangest chapters in the Beatles saga: their solo music. All four Fabs continued to make music, on their own eccentric terms. All four have released classic albums. All four released utter garbage. The Beatles' solo story is a world of its own, gloriously messy, crazy and chaotic.
So let's celebrate this story: The Beatles' 100 greatest solo songs, featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The hits, the flops, the deep cuts, the fan favorites, the cult classics, the covers. Some of these songs are legendary tunes sung around the world at weddings and parties. Some are buried treasures that only the most die-hard Beatlemaniacs know about. And one of them is “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”. As a great man said, it's not easy.
Every fan would make a different list, that's the beauty of it. We enjoy continuing to discuss The Beatles' solo records. I've spent my life saying that Ringo's 1970 country album Lots of Blues is an underrated masterpiece, and I will stand by it forever. Hell, I had this argument with Ringo once. (I can't say whether I convinced him or not – he was too busy making fun of me.)
Keep in mind: this is NOT a list of their greatest hits. These songs are not here because of their commercial success, radio play, sales, or popularity. The only thing that matters is the Beatles' level of magic. This means that some incredibly famous hits didn't make the cut. To take only the most obvious example, the words “say”, “say” and “say” do not appear consecutively here at all.
Today, fans are diving deeper than ever into the Beatles' solo music. Recordings that were once impossible to find are now easy to listen to with just one click. The arguments therefore become more and more sophisticated. When Paul released RAM in 1971, the whole world recognized that it was an atrocity. It is now undoubtedly his most famous and acclaimed album. Fans are just now discovering gems like John's Mind games or at Georges Living in the material world. The arguments keep changing, that’s what makes it fun.
This list gives all four Beatles the chance to make some noise. Obviously, this is tricky because Paul has a much larger songbook than the others combined: he's still a successful songwriter at 80, while John and George had their lives cruelly cut short. But the whole point of a list like this is to mix them as evenly as possible, or at least as much as the music requires. So they're all fighting for a spot on this list, as they always have been on Beatles albums. (The Top Ten contains three songs from each of the major songwriters, plus a ringo banger.) But these 100 songs live up to that Beatles spirit. The dream will never be over.