The Beatles’ original drummer Pete Best has officially retired from music.
Best – who formed the group with John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison – was sacked by manager Brian Epstein and replaced with Sir Ringo Starr in 1962, while he has continued to play live with The Pete Best Band and make convention appearances.
Despite plans to perform at the Liverpool Beatles Museum this summer, his brother Roag Best – who was also part of The Pete Best Band – confirmed his 83-year-old sibling is hanging up his drumsticks.
He wrote on X: “Well what an absolutely wonderful ride we’ve had. However, everything comes to pass.
“My brother Pete Best has announced today he is retiring from personal appearances and performing with the group.
“His daughter has informed me it’s due to personal circumstances.”
Confirming the news, Pete shared the post and said: “I had a blast. Thank you.”
His family owned the Casbah Coffee Club, which was home to the ‘Hey Jude’ legend’s first gigs, and is recognised as their ‘birthplace’.
Pete’s final two gigs with The Beatles were at Liverpool’s iconic Cavern Club on August 15, 1962, while he was let go the next day.
He turned down an offer to join the Mersey Beats group, and later moved to the United States where he first formed the Pete Best Combo, and the Pete Best Band.
Things could have been very different as Paul McCartney’s brother Mike previously revealed he was the original drummer for his brother and John Lennon when they started out as The Quarrymen, but he broke his arm in the Scouts.
He told BANG Showbiz: “It was when John used to come to the house in Forthlin Road with The Quarrymen, before George was even there. I broke my arm at camp and it affected the nerves that control the wrist. They were dead.
“I had to have electric shocks and hot stuff put on my arm to get the nerves back. For a couple of years, I had to wear a support strap with a wire.
“If I hadn’t broken my arm, I’d have been a Beatle. But I did break my arm and I’m not a Beatle. You always have to deal in reality, not dreams.”
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