Sunday 27 August 1967 | Interview, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
| Date | Sunday 27 August 1967 |
| Location | Outside the hall, Bangor Normal College, Bangor, north Wales |
| Speakers | John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr |
| Context | Press statement following news of Brian Epstein’s death |
| Paul McCartney | Already en route to London; did not take part |
On Sunday 27 August 1967, The Beatles were in Bangor, north Wales, attending a Transcendental Meditation conference with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, when word reached them that their manager Brian Epstein had died at his home in London. Plans were immediately made for a return to the capital.
Earlier that day, all four Beatles had been formally initiated into Transcendental Meditation by the Maharishi — each receiving their personal mantra in a private ceremony. Paul McCartney later described the initiation:
“The actual ceremony in Bangor when we got given the mantra was nice. You had to wait outside his room as he did people one by one, and then you got to go into the inner sanctum, just a room they’d put a lot of flowers in and a few drapes around, and lit a few joss sticks. You had to take some cut flowers to Maharishi as some sort of offering… So you got your flowers, you took your shoes off and went into a darkened room where Maharishi was. It was quite exciting. It reminded me of Gypsy Rose Lee’s tent in Blackpool.”
— Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The telephone call
Afterwards, The Beatles were in the college grounds following a late Sunday lunch when the pay phone in their dormitory began to ring. After a while, Jane Asher went inside to answer it. Brian Epstein’s assistant Peter Brown — who had been given the number by Pattie Harrison — asked to speak to McCartney immediately.
Ringo Starr later recalled the moment the news broke:
“In Bangor we heard that Brian had died. That was a real downer because of the confusion and the disbelief: ‘You’re kidding me!’ Your belief system gets suspended because you so badly don’t want to hear it. You don’t know what to do with it. If you look at our faces in the film shot at the time, it was all a bit like: ‘What is it? What does it mean? Our friend has gone.’ It was more ‘our friend’ than anything else. Brian was a friend of ours, and we were all left behind. After we arrived there with hope and flowers – now this. And then we all left – real slow.”
— Ringo Starr, The Beatles Anthology
The press gather
Although the details surrounding Epstein’s death were still vague, the story had already reached the British press. Reporters began to gather around the college entrance. Cynthia Lennon later described what happened:
“The press wouldn’t leave until someone came out and gave a statement. The others came to our room to talk about who should speak on their behalf. John said he’d do it, and stumbled toward the mêlée of lenses. He was hit by a barrage of questions.”
— Cynthia Lennon, John
Paul McCartney was already on his way back to London. John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr spoke briefly to the press outside the hall.
The interview
Q: What are your plans now?
John Lennon: I don’t know what to say. We’ve only just heard, and it’s hard to think of things to say. But he was just… He was a warm fellow, you know, and it’s terrible.
Q: What are your plans now?
Lennon: We haven’t made any, you know. I mean, we’ve only just heard.
Ringo Starr: Yes, you know, it’s as much news to us as it is to everybody else.
Q: John, where would you be today without Mr Epstein?
Lennon: I don’t know.
Q: Are you driving down to London tonight?
Lennon: Yes. Somebody’s taking us down. Yeah.
Q: You heard the news this afternoon, I believe, and Paul’s already gone down?
Lennon: Yes.
Q: You’ve no idea what your plans are for tomorrow?
Lennon: No, no. We’ll just go and find out, you know. And…
George Harrison: We just have to play everything by ear.
Q: I understand that Mr Epstein was to be initiated here tomorrow.
Lennon: Yes.
Q: When was he coming up?
Harrison: Tomorrow, just Monday. That’s all we knew.
Q: Had you told him very much about the spiritual regeneration movement?
Harrison: Well, as much as we’d learned about spiritualism and various things of that nature, then we tried to pass on to him. And he was equally as interested as we are, as everybody should be. He wanted to know about life as much as we do.
Q: Had you spoken to him since you became interested this weekend?
Lennon and Starr: No.
Harrison: I spoke to him Wednesday evening, the evening before we first saw Maharishi’s lecture, and he was in great spirits.
Q: And when did he tell you that he’d like to be initiated?
Harrison: Well, when we arrived here on Friday we got a telephone call later that day to say that Brian would follow us up and be here Monday.
Q: Do you intend returning to Bangor before the end of this conference?
Harrison: We probably won’t have time now, because Maharishi will only be here till about Thursday and we’ll have so much to do in London that we’ll have to meet him again some other time.
Q: I understand that this afternoon Maharishi conferred with you all. Could I ask you what advice he offered you?
Lennon: He told us not to get overwhelmed by grief. And whatever thoughts we have of Brian to keep them happy, because any thoughts we have of him will travel to him wherever he is.
Q: Had he ever met Mr Epstein?
Lennon: No, but he was looking forward to meeting him.
Q: Have you a tribute that you would like to pay to Mr Epstein?
Lennon: Well, you know, we don’t know what to say. We loved him and he was one of us.
Harrison: You can’t pay tribute in words.
Q: What are your plans now?
Harrison: To return to London, and do whatever we can.
Q: Did the Maharishi give you any words of comfort?
Lennon: Meditation gives you confidence enough to withstand something like this, even the short amount we’ve had.
Harrison: There’s no real such thing as death anyway. I mean, it’s death on a physical level, but life goes on everywhere… and you just keep going, really. The thing about the comfort is to know that he’s OK.
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Key Facts
| Date | Sunday 27 August 1967 |
| Location | Bangor Normal College, Bangor, north Wales |
| Speakers | John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr |
| Paul McCartney | Already en route to London |
| News received via | Peter Brown (telephone call to Jane Asher) |
| Last contact with Epstein | George Harrison spoke to him Wednesday evening (23 August) |
| Epstein’s planned arrival | Monday 28 August (for initiation) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Where were The Beatles when Brian Epstein died?
The Beatles were in Bangor, north Wales, attending a Transcendental Meditation conference with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at Bangor Normal College. They had been formally initiated into TM earlier that day. The news was delivered by telephone by Brian Epstein’s assistant Peter Brown, who spoke to Jane Asher, who then told Paul McCartney.
What did John Lennon say about Brian Epstein’s death?
Speaking to the press in Bangor on 27 August 1967, John Lennon said: “He was a warm fellow, you know, and it’s terrible” and “We loved him and he was one of us.” He also said that the Maharishi had told them not to get overwhelmed by grief, and that meditation had given him the confidence to withstand the news.
Was Brian Epstein going to meet the Maharishi?
Yes. When The Beatles arrived in Bangor on Friday 25 August 1967, they received a telephone call saying that Brian Epstein would follow them up and be there on Monday 28 August for his own initiation into Transcendental Meditation. He died the day before he was due to arrive.
→ Brian Epstein dies – 27 August 1967
→ Day off in Los Angeles – 27 August 1966
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