In the late 1960s, The Beatles struggled to manage themselves after the death of Brian Epstein, so they hired Allen Klein. The decision caused a rift between the band members that led, at least partly, to their break up. Klein continued to manage John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr after the split, but they ultimately ended their business relationships. In the years after he stopped working with The Beatles, here’s what happened to Klein.
The Beatles hired Allen Klein after Brian Epstein’s death
In 1967, the band’s longtime manager, Epstein, died of an overdose. They struggled to manage without him and, on Mick Jagger’s recommendation, decided to hire Klein, who had been managing The Rolling Stones.
“Really, it was Mick who got us together,” Lennon said per Rolling Stone. “I had heard about all those dreadful rumors about him, but I could never coordinate it with the fact that the Stones seemed to be going on and on with him, and nobody ever said a word. Mick’s not the type to just clam up, so I started thinking he must be all right.”
Paul McCartney did not feel they could trust Klein and campaigned for the band to hire his father-in-law, Lee Eastman. His bandmates outvoted him, though, which did nothing for the morale in the group. Eventually, after the band broke up, McCartney sued The Beatles to take control of their music from Klein.
What happened to Allen Klein after The Beatles stopped working with him?
After The Beatles disbanded, Klein continued to manage Harrison, Lennon, and Starr, but they grew increasingly disenchanted with him. In 1973, they all announced that they would be terminating their partnership. Klein responded by suing the former Beatles, who then sued him back. They ultimately settled out of court in 1977.
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Klein’s relationship with The Rolling Stones also ended messily. They fired him in 1970, but they didn’t settle their financial disagreements until 1984.
In 1979, a jury found Klein guilty of tax evasion, and he spent two months in prison. This didn’t end his career, however. He began managing producer Phil Spector in the 1980s and remained at the head of ABKCO Music and Records.
Klein died in 2009 at the age of 77. Per The Guardian, he acknowledged the reputation he had earned. For years, he kept a parody of a psalm on his desk: “Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of evil, I have no fear, as I am the biggest bastard in the valley.”
John Lennon admitted Paul McCartney had been right about their manager
The Beatles’ relationship with Klein caused one of their biggest disagreements and turned three members of the band against McCartney. Eventually, though, Lennon admitted that his former bandmate had been right about their manager.
“There are many reasons why we finally gave [Klein] the push, although I don’t want to go into the details of it,” he said in an interview with Weekend World in 1973, per The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Breakup. “Let’s say possibly Paul’s suspicions were right … and the time was right.”
Though the acknowledgment came after a bitter few years, McCartney was likely relieved to hear it.
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