Thursday 11 August 1966 | Interview, Travel
The day before their final US tour began, The Beatles flew from London Airport to America on 11 August 1966. Before departing, John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave a brief interview to a BBC reporter.
The group stopped briefly in Boston before boarding another aircraft to Chicago, arriving at 4.55pm. A press conference was hastily arranged at the Astor Tower Hotel, where the group was staying, held in the room occupied by press officer Tony Barrow on the 27th floor.
Interview at London Airport
Q: Hello John. Are you looking forward to the tour?
John Lennon: Yes.
Q: Now, this religious controversy, I know you don’t want to say too much about it, but does it worry you that it’s going to boil up when you get to the States?
Lennon: Well, it worries me, yes. I hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say.
Q: Do you think this is going to be a controversial tour like the Philippines?
Paul McCartney: Oh, no, no, no. It’s going to be fine.
Q: What makes you say that, Paul?
McCartney: Oh, it’s gonna be fine, you watch. Yeah, great.
The ‘more popular than Jesus’ controversy
The press conference at the Astor Tower Hotel was dominated by the furore surrounding John Lennon’s remarks, made in an interview with journalist Maureen Cleave published in the London Evening Standard in March 1966, that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus”. The comments had caused little reaction in Britain but ignited a firestorm in the United States when republished in the American teen magazine Datebook in July 1966, leading to record burnings, radio bans and death threats.
At the Chicago press conference, Lennon explained his remarks, expressed regret, and ultimately offered an apology. The incident deepened The Beatles’ resolve to stop touring and retreat to the recording studio.
The Beatles — officially licensed merch
The Beatles: Revolver Album Cover Unisex T-Shirt (Black).
The Chicago press conference
John Lennon: If I had said television is more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it. You know, but as I just happened to be talking to a friend, I used the word ‘Beatles’ as a remote thing – not as what I think as Beatles – as those other Beatles like other people see us. I just said ‘they’ are having more influence on kids and things than anything else, including Jesus. But I said it in that way which is the wrong way. Yap yap.
Q: Some teenagers have repeated your statements: ‘I like the Beatles more than Jesus Christ.’ What do you think about that?
Lennon: Well, originally I was pointing out that fact in reference to England, that we meant more to kids than Jesus did, or religion, at that time. I wasn’t knocking it or putting it down, I was just saying it as a fact. And it’s sort of… It is true, ’specially 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, you know. I just said what I said and it was wrong, or was taken wrong. And now it’s all this.
Q: There have been threats against your life, there have been record burnings, you’ve been banned from some radio stations. Does this bother you?
Lennon: Well, it worries me.
Paul McCartney: You know, it’s bound to bother us.
Q: Do you think you’re being crucified?
Lennon: No, I wouldn’t say that at all.
Q: What do you think about the record burnings here in the United States?
McCartney: Well, I think it’s a bit silly. It seems a bit like a publicity stunt on their part, you know. I think they’re not going to gain anything by doing that.
Lennon: If they just didn’t buy the records, or threw them away, but burning them is…
George Harrison: It’s the same old wrong mess. They’ve just taken it the wrong way, and that’s just the pity that… It’s this misunderstanding which shouldn’t be.
Q: Mr Starr, you haven’t said a word.
Ringo Starr: Well, I just hope it’s all over now, you know. I hope everyone’s straightened out, and it’s finished.
Q: Is this an attempt to raise your flagging popularity?
Lennon: I could think of a much easier way…
Q: Are you sorry you said it?
Lennon: I am. Yes, you know. Even though I never meant what people think I meant by it. I’m still sorry I opened my mouth.
Q: Did you mean that the Beatles are more popular than Christ?
Lennon: When I was talking about it, it was very close and intimate with this person that I know who happens to be a reporter. And I was using expressions on things that I’d just read and derived about Christianity. Only, I was saying it in the simplest form that I know, which is the natural way I talk. But she took ‘em, and people that know me took ‘em exactly as it was, because they know that’s how I talk, you know.
Q: It was quoted, a recent statement by you, that the Beatles were anxious for what they called the downfall – that is, the time when they would no longer be on top. Are you anxious for it?
Lennon: Well, I don’t know what that is. No.
McCartney: I don’t think that we ever said that.
Harrison: If we were really anxious, we’d just do something to…
McCartney: We’d do it, you know.
Harrison: …end it.
McCartney: That’s the thing. If we really wanted to get out.
Lennon: People say, ‘Oh, they must’ve done it on purpose. They must have a reason,’ you know. But I made a mistake, and I opened me mouth, but there was no alterior motive in it, either way.
Q: Are you concerned that your image may be changing and diminished in the eyes of the kids?
George Harrison: We change all the time, really, our style.
Ringo Starr: I mean, we look different every time we come to America, if you look at the old photographs. We never keep to a strict fashion.
John Lennon: You can see how we’ve changed.
Q: Do you do that on purpose?
McCartney: No.
Lennon: No. We’re just growing old.
Q: Can I have just one more question? I’d like to ask your reaction to the fact that at London Airport this morning, some of the girls were crying, ‘John, not Jesus.’
Lennon: Well you know, I don’t take that seriously, either.
McCartney: They’re taking it the wrong way like everyone else, you know.
Q: Can we talk about your music a little bit? You’ve gone a long ways from ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ to Eleanor Rigby and the raga and so on. What direction are you trying to move your music?
McCartney: The thing is, we’re just trying to move it in a forward direction. And this is the point, you know, this is why we’re getting in all these messes with saying things. Because, you know, we’re just trying to move forwards. And people seem to be trying to just sort of hold us back and not want us to say anything that’s vaguely sort of, you know, inflammatory. I mean, we won’t if, really, if people don’t want that, then we won’t do it. We’ll sort of just do it privately. But I think it’s better for everyone if we’re just honest about the whole thing.
Q: How are you going to respond after tonight? Are you going to try and explain yourselves every time somebody asks, or what?
Lennon: Well, I’ll try if they keep asking me, you know. I’ll go on and on trying until they get it straight, you know, because I just don’t like to be sort of thought of as what I’m really not, you know. It’s nothing like me. The thing they’re putting round is nothing to do with me as a person, you know.
Q: [to Harrison] What about you? What was your reaction to what he said, and the reaction to what he said?
Harrison: Well, in the context that it was meant, it was the fact that Christianity is declining, and everybody knows about that, and that was the fact that was trying to be made.
Q: Do you agree with it?
Harrison: I do agree. I agree that it’s on the wane.
Lennon: Well, my reaction is that I was deploring it, you know. I was pointing it out. I mean, if somebody like us says it, people sort of do take notice, you know – even church people are trying to be ‘with it’ with pop groups and things. They’re still doing it the wrong way, and I was just stating a fact as I saw it. And I wasn’t trying to compare me or the group with Jesus or religion at all, but just only in that way – the way I’m trying to tell ya.
Q: Are you unhappy about that?
Lennon: No, you know, It’ll get straightened out, because, I mean, I could have stopped there and said, ‘Now listen, that’s wrong, what you’re saying,’ but I couldn’t do that. I had to come over here anyway and do all this, and try and straighten this out first. So, if it does get straightened out, it’ll be straightened out for them.
The Beatles — officially licensed merch
The Beatles: Revolver Album Cover Ladies T-Shirt (Black).
Key Facts
| Date | Thursday 11 August 1966 |
| Route | London Airport → Boston → Chicago (arrived 4.55pm) |
| Press conference | Astor Tower Hotel, Chicago (27th floor, Tony Barrow’s room) |
| Context | Day before the start of The Beatles’ final US tour |
| Significance | Lennon apologised for the ‘more popular than Jesus’ remarks; controversy deepened resolve to stop touring |
The Astor Tower Hotel, Chicago — where The Beatles held their press conference on 11 August 1966, at which John Lennon apologised for his ‘more popular than Jesus’ remarks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the 'more popular than Jesus' controversy?
In March 1966, John Lennon told journalist Maureen Cleave that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". The remarks caused little reaction in Britain but caused a furore in the US when republished in the teen magazine Datebook in July 1966, leading to record burnings, radio bans and death threats.
Did John Lennon apologise for the 'more popular than Jesus' remarks?
Yes. At the Chicago press conference on 11 August 1966, Lennon said: "I am. Yes, you know. Even though I never meant what people think I meant by it. I'm still sorry I opened my mouth."
Was the 1966 US tour The Beatles' last?
Yes. The 1966 North American tour, which began on 12 August 1966, was The Beatles' final concert tour. Their last ever concert took place at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August 1966.
What effect did the controversy have on The Beatles?
The controversy, combined with the difficulties of the Philippines tour earlier in 1966, deepened The Beatles' resolve to stop touring and focus on studio work. After the 1966 US tour they never performed live again as a group, retreating to Abbey Road to record Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Who was Tony Barrow?
Tony Barrow was The Beatles' press officer, employed by Brian Epstein's NEMS Enterprises. He wrote the sleeve notes for several Beatles albums and managed press relations throughout their touring years. The Chicago press conference was held in his hotel room.
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