The Beatles in the '80s

As a fan of both '80s and '60s music, I was always interested in the music of the Beatles, not only during their time as one of the greatest rock bands of all time during the 1960s, but also as solo artists in subsequent decades.


Here is a brief view of the Fab Four during my decade, the 1980s.



Paul McCartney continued the successful solo career he started in the '70s with such hits as the poignant duet with Stevie Wonder, "Ebony and Ivory" (1982), and the catchy "No More Lonely Nights" (1984), the latter off of his 1984 film Give My Regards to Broadstreet. McCartney also teamed up with Michael Jackson on "The Girl is Mine," off of Jackson's enormously successful album Thriller (1982), and "Say Say Say," off of McCartney's own album Pipes of Peace (1983). Above, Beatlemania and Jackson-mania unite in the colorful video to  "Say Say Say," a gigantic and memorable hit for the duo during late '83. The video also features McCartney's beloved wife and companion, Linda, who passed on in 1998 of breast cancer.


In 1985, McCartney played "Let It Be" at the gigantic Live Aid concert, backed by Bob Geldolf, Pete Townshend, David Bowie, and Alison Moyet.   

George Harrison began the decade with his tribute to fellow Beatle, John Lennon, "All Those Years Ago." (1981) Afterward, Harrison next appeared with the very succesful and critically acclaimed 1987 album Cloud Nine, which included the big hits "Got My Mind Set On You," above, and "When we Was Fab," the latter a tribute to his Beatle days. 


Harrision ended the decade as a member of the quirky supergroup The Travelling Willburys, which also featured Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne.  

Ringo Starr was the narrator of the '80s childrens programs, Thomas the Tank Engine and Shining Time Station. He also made occasional appearances on various TV shows, and as a commercial spokesman for Sun Country Wine Coolers, above. In 1985, Starr performed with his son, Zak Starkey, as part of Artists United Against Apartheid, on the song "Sun City." 

Alas, John Lennon was taken from us too soon, as his life was stolen from him by an assailant in December of 1980. Here is a song released posthumously, in 1983, as part of the album Milk and Honey, and became a worldwide hit, "Nobody Told Me."