Relive How The Beatles Were Ahead Of Their Time With The Full Rooftop Concert

On the 30th of January 1969, a historic moment was created on the rooftop of the Apple Corps headquarters, when the Beatles performed their last-ever gig that bid their final hurrahs as the fab four.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were present to perform a series of songs that were a part of their then-unreleased album and documentary Get Back, turned Let It Be afterward. For the documentary, filmmaker Lindsay-Hogg was chosen to direct and wanted to film the quartet inside the studio during recording sessions. Later on, he believed that the material had a lacking element, so it was decided that the band would prepare a concert as the “climax” to its forthcoming film. Thus, the birth of the rooftop concert.

For almost two years, the band had refused to perform live, since the constant touring and the screams from fans took a toll on their desires to be on stage. And right at this moment, the preparations weren’t great either. They got too chilly to the point that Lennon and Starr had to borrow their wives’ coats, their microphones were wrapped with pantyhoses to avoid the nasty echoes of the wind, their amps weren’t plugged right, and there were numerous complaints filed for the noise they’ve created (the people didn’t know it’s the Beatles who were performing). Given all the reasons, it’s indeed a glorious opportunity to have them back live in front of people, singing their hearts out.

The twenty-minute-long performance could’ve cemented the ending of the Beatles, but it sure started the legacy of the band’s life-long significance to rock-and-roll.