Friday 29 July 1966 | United States
On 29 July 1966, the US teen magazine Datebook republished remarks made by John Lennon in which he stated that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus”. The republication set off a chain of events that would culminate in public bonfires of Beatles records across the American South, radio bans, death threats against the group and their families, and a formal public apology from Lennon at a Chicago press conference — all within a fortnight.
The Original Interview
Lennon’s remarks had first appeared in England in March 1966, in an interview conducted by journalist Maureen Cleave for the Evening Standard newspaper. The interview was part of a series in which Cleave profiled each of the four Beatles individually. Lennon’s comments, made in the context of a wide-ranging conversation about religion, society, and fame, read in full:
“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”
— John Lennon, Evening Standard, March 1966
In the context of the Evening Standard interview — a thoughtful, long-form piece aimed at an educated British readership — the remarks attracted virtually no controversy. Britain in 1966 was a largely secular society, and Lennon’s observation about the relative cultural prominence of pop music and organised religion was received as the kind of provocative but not especially shocking statement that a young intellectual might make. The interview was published and forgotten.
Datebook and the American Context
Datebook was a minor US teen magazine that had, until this point, been a relatively insignificant player in the American youth market. Its editor, Art Unger, chose to republish Lennon’s Jesus quote as part of a cover story titled “The Ten Adults You Dig/Hate The Most”. The quote was extracted from its original context — a nuanced discussion of religion and celebrity — and presented as a standalone provocation.
The effect was explosive. Datebook unexpectedly sold around a million copies — far beyond its normal circulation. American Christian fundamentalists, particularly in the southern states, were outraged. Radio stations across the South began banning Beatles music. Organised groups called for bonfires of Beatles records, albums, and memorabilia.
The contrast between the British and American reactions to the same words illustrates the profound cultural difference between the two countries in 1966. In Britain, Lennon’s remarks had been absorbed without incident. In the American South, where evangelical Christianity was a dominant cultural force, the suggestion that a pop group might be more culturally prominent than Jesus Christ was experienced as a direct and intolerable blasphemy.
The Bonfires and the Backlash
The bonfires of Beatles records that followed the Datebook publication were among the most dramatic public demonstrations of anti-Beatles sentiment in the group’s career. Radio stations in Alabama, Georgia, and other southern states publicly destroyed Beatles records on air. The Ku Klux Klan nailed Beatles albums to crosses at rallies. Death threats were made against the group and their families.
The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein flew to New York to attempt damage limitation, arguing publicly that Lennon had merely been expressing surprise at the scale of The Beatles’ fame — not making a theological claim. The explanation was accurate as far as it went, but it did little to calm the fury in the short term.
With The Beatles’ North American tour scheduled to begin on 12 August 1966, the situation was genuinely dangerous. The group and their management were receiving credible death threats, and there was serious consideration of cancelling the tour entirely.
The Chicago Press Conference: 11 August 1966
Lennon was eventually pressed into making a public apology at a press conference in Chicago on 11 August 1966 — the day before the tour opened. The apology was characteristically Lennon: reluctant, qualified, and clearly painful for a man who did not believe he had said anything wrong.
“If I had said television is more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it,” Lennon said at the press conference. “I’m not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it or putting it down. I was just saying it as a fact and it’s true more for England than here. I’m not saying that we’re better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong, or it was taken wrong. And now it’s all this.”
The apology was sufficient to defuse the immediate crisis. Planned bonfires were called off, and the tour proceeded. But The Beatles remained nervous throughout — and the experience contributed to their decision, made after the final concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August 1966, never to tour again.
The Broader Significance
The Datebook controversy is one of the defining episodes of The Beatles’ career — a moment that crystallised the tensions between the group’s growing artistic and intellectual ambitions and the demands of their role as global pop stars. Lennon had been making provocative, thoughtful public statements for years; the Evening Standard interview was not unusual in that respect. What was unusual was the American context in which the words were republished, and the degree to which that context transformed their meaning.
The episode also marks a turning point in The Beatles’ relationship with live performance. The 1966 North American tour — conducted under the shadow of the controversy, with the group playing to audiences who could barely hear them over the screaming, in venues with inadequate security, while receiving death threats — was the last tour they would ever undertake. The decision to stop touring freed them to focus entirely on studio work, producing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), Magical Mystery Tour (1967), and The Beatles (1968) in the years that followed.
Key Facts: 29 July 1966
| Date of republication | 29 July 1966 |
| Publication | Datebook magazine (US) |
| Original interview | Maureen Cleave, Evening Standard, March 1966 |
| Cover story title | “The Ten Adults You Dig/Hate The Most” |
| Copies sold | Approximately 1 million |
| Lennon’s apology | Press conference, Chicago, 11 August 1966 |
| Tour dates | North American tour, 12–29 August 1966 (final Beatles tour) |
| Final concert | Candlestick Park, San Francisco, 29 August 1966 |
The Beatles: Revolver
Released the same month as the controversy. The album that changed everything. Officially licensed.
The Beatles: Revolver Album Cover Patch
The 1966 era, officially licensed. The year The Beatles stopped touring.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did John Lennon say about Jesus?
In a March 1966 interview with journalist Maureen Cleave for the Evening Standard, John Lennon said: “We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.” The remarks were made in the context of a discussion about religion and celebrity, and attracted no controversy in the UK when first published.
What was Datebook magazine?
Datebook was a minor US teen magazine that republished John Lennon’s Jesus remarks on 29 July 1966 as part of a cover story titled “The Ten Adults You Dig/Hate The Most”. The issue sold approximately one million copies — far beyond the magazine’s normal circulation — and triggered a wave of anti-Beatles protests across the American South.
Did John Lennon apologise for the Jesus comments?
Yes. Lennon made a public apology at a press conference in Chicago on 11 August 1966, the day before The Beatles’ North American tour opened. He said: “I’m not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it or putting it down. I was just saying it as a fact.” The apology was sufficient to defuse the immediate crisis and the planned bonfires were called off.
Did The Beatles burn their records in 1966?
No — it was American Christian fundamentalists, particularly in the southern states, who organised bonfires of Beatles records following the Datebook republication of Lennon’s Jesus remarks in July 1966. Radio stations also banned Beatles music, and the Ku Klux Klan nailed Beatles albums to crosses at rallies.
Did the Jesus controversy cause The Beatles to stop touring?
The controversy was one of several factors that contributed to The Beatles’ decision to stop touring after their final concert at Candlestick Park, San Francisco on 29 August 1966. The 1966 North American tour was conducted under the shadow of death threats and public hostility, and the experience reinforced the band’s growing disillusionment with live performance.
→ 29 July in Beatles History
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→ John Lennon: Beatles History, Solo Career, Songs & Legacy
→ Paul McCartney: Beatles History, Solo Career, Songs & Legacy
→ George Harrison: Beatles History, Solo Career, Songs & Legacy
→ Ringo Starr: Beatles History, Solo Career, Songs & Legacy
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