Thousands of fans made the journey to London’s Abbey Road 50 years on from when the Beatles walked over the zebra crossing for the last album the band recorded. The band was pictured striding across the road for the album cover on 8 August 1969.
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The image of John Lennon, Sir Ringo Starr, Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison outside the EMI Studios in St John’s Wood is one of music’s most iconic moments.
A tribute act, Fab Gear, followed in the Beatles footsteps to re-enact the iconic zebra crossing photograph whilst about 2,500 Beatles fans cheered them on. The area of the town where the zebra crossing is situated, the traffic was stopped and musicians played Beatles hits.
pic: Sky News
Many people travelled across the world to celebrate the moment which is one of Beatles most known movements. There was fans from Canada, America, Mexico, Argentina, Japan and Australia.
Staff at Abbey Road Studios say fans make the trip every day to stand in the same spot the Beatles did.
Isabel Garvey, managing director of the studios, said of the album cover: “In principle it’s not that complicated a concept but I think it’s the visual language. It’s their last album walking away from the studios, so I think it’s about that point in time.”
David Minchin who perform as George in Fab Gear told Sky News: “The Beatles are no longer but the music is forever, it brings happiness to the world,” he added. “And we’ve seen from the recent film, Yesterday, a world without The Beatles would have been a miserable world to be part of.
“For them to have survived it and stay such normal people and still create music years afterwards is an incredible indication of their talent and importance. To be inside it would have been a crazy thing.
“George Harrison used to say, ‘it wasn’t reality – the world went mad and we were normal’, and that’s sort of true. It’s incredible experiencing a small bit of that.”
Mervin Johns who perform as Ringo in Fab Gear told Sky News: “It gave me a strong sense of what it would have been like,” He added. “For them it was real. To be in the middle of that must have been thrilling but frightening as well.”
Craig Taylor