On This Day in 1963, The Beatles Wrapped Their Final Tour Date With Roy Orbison After Fans Pelted Them With George Harrison’s Favorite Candy

Jelly beans (or “Jelly Babies,” as they’re known across the pond) are a sweet, fruity snack that have been a favorite among children and adults alike for centuries at this point. They were popular in the 1960s, too, and even the likes of The Beatles’ guitarist George Harrison was a fan of them. It’s a shame he let that little personal detail slip, though. 

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On this day in 1963, The Beatles were pelted by a barrage of brightly colored confectionery on the final night of their tour with Roy Orbison at King George’s Hall in Blackburn. And it wouldn’t be the last time, either. The band would deal with this “jelly bean incident” well into 1964, so much so that George Harrison pleaded with fans to stop.

A Sweet Gesture, or a Sweet Assault?

Throwing roses or teddy bears is one thing. But hard, pellet-like candies? I can imagine this one had to sting. Beatlemania was always a strange phenomenon from the start, though, and it’s a good thing the offending jelly beans weren’t something harder or more dangerous.

Earlier in 1963, George Harrison told a television host that he loved jelly beans, joking that John Lennon had “stolen his Jelly Babies” on one occasion. It was an off-the-cuff, passing, cute comment. Unfortunately, a lot of fans zeroed in on it. It started with boxes upon boxes of jelly beans being sent to the band by fans. Then, fans started throwing them on stage during live performances, all the way through the end of their tour with Orbison on June 9, 1963.

It was such a problem that George Harrison even pleaded with a 15-year-old fan in a letter, saying that he wanted fans to stop throwing the sugary treats at them when they performed.

“We don’t like Jelly Babies, or fruit gums for that matter, so think how we feel standing on stage trying to dodge the stuff, before you throw some more at us,” Harrison wrote. “Besides, it is dangerous. I was hit in the eye once with a boiled sweet, and it’s not funny.”

George Harrison Was Over It

The following year, The Beatles headed to the United States for their first American tour. They thought the jelly bean incident was behind them, most likely. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The band was met with America’s version of jelly beans, which were harder and chewier than English Jelly Babies. After that tour, Harrison was pretty direct about how much he hated it.

”That night we were absolutely pelted by the f*****g things,” he said. “They don’t have soft Jelly Beans there, they have hard Jelly Beans. To make matters worse, we were on a circular stage, so they hit us from all sides. Imagine waves of rock-hard little bullets raining down on you from the sky. If Jelly Beans traveling about 50 miles an hour through the air hit you in the eye, you’re finished. You’re blind, aren’t you? We’ve never liked people throwing stuff like that.”

George Harrison’s jelly bean debacle would continue for the rest of The Beatles’ first US tour. Thankfully, though, the trend would fizzle out eventually.

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