On this day (August 11), The Beatles were preparing to start their American tour. After arriving in the country, John Lennon held a pair of press conferences at the Astor Towers hotel in Chicago. A group of journalists traveling with the band, local reporters, and local DJs gathered for the Q&A session. When asked to clarify his comments on the Fab Four being more popular than Jesus, he explained what he meant and apologized for the anger his statement caused.
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In March 1966, Lennon spoke with Maureen Cleave from the London Evening Standard. During their long conversation, he made an off-hand statement that would haunt him for years to come. “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink, I needn’t argue with that,” he said. “I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus right now. I don’t know which will go first–rock and roll or Christianity,” he added. “Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”
People in the United Kingdom didn’t pay much attention to the statement. However, an American teen magazine called Datebook republished his comments. Then, their coverage alerted the rest of the United States media to Lennon’s comments. Before long, venues were canceling their concerts, radio stations stopped playing their records, and people in the South and Midwest gathered to burn anything connected to The Beatles. Their music was also banned in multiple countries, including South Africa.
John Lennon Explains His Comments About Jesus and The Beatles
“Mr. Lennon, we’ve been hearing a great deal of interpretations of your comment regarding The Beatles and Jesus. Could you tell us what you really meant by that statement,” one reporter asked, starting the larger conversation.
First, Lennon pointed out that his comments were taken out of context and misinterpreted. He also explained that he and Maureen Cleave were friends, and she was conducting a series of long interviews with him and other members of the group. “I wasn’t really thinking in terms of PR or translating what I was saying. It was going on for a couple of hours, and I just said it as–just to cover the subject, you know,” he said. “I didn’t mean it the way they said it. It’s amazing. It’s just so complicated and it’s got out of hand, you know,” he added.
“I wasn’t saying The Beatles are better than Jesus or God or Christianity. I was using the name Beatles because I can use them easier, because I can talk about Beatles as a separate thing and see them as an example, especially to a close friend,” Lennon continued. “I could have said TV, or cinema, or anything else that’s popular. Motorcars are bigger than Jesus,” he added. “I never thought about repercussions.”
Lennon Apologizes for His Comments
Another journalist mentioned a disc jockey in Birmingham, Alabama, who demanded an apology from John Lennon. “He can have it,” Lennon said. “I apologize to him if he’s upset, and he really means it, you know, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I said it and for the mess it’s made. But I never meant it as a lousy or anti-religious thing, or anything,” he added. ”…If he wants one, you know, he can have it. I apologize to him.”
Featured Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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