The Beatles Performed Their Last Live Gig 50 Years Ago. Here’s the Story Behind the Rooftop Concert

In January of 1969, the Beatles had just slogged their way through a soul-destroying month of misery in which John Lennon was wracked with heroin addiction, a frustrated George Harrison briefly quit the band and Paul McCartney worked ceaselessly as the group’s self-anointed cheerleader — so much so that, by the end of the month, his relentless good-natured energy was beginning to backfire and was driving the Beatles perilously close to the edge of disbandment.

In January of 1969, the Beatles had just slogged their way through a soul-destroying month of misery in which John Lennon was wracked with heroin addiction, a frustrated George Harrison briefly quit the band and Paul McCartney worked ceaselessly as the group’s self-anointed cheerleader — so much so that, by the end of the month, his relentless good-natured energy was beginning to backfire and was driving the Beatles perilously close to the edge of disbandment.