Paul Weller thinks The Beatles split at the "right time"

16 May 2024, 12:00

Paul Weller has talked about The Beatles' split. Picture: Press, RDImages/Epics/Getty Images, Roger Viollet Collection/Getty Images

The Modfather spoke about the impact of the band but admitted he couldn't imagine the Fab Four tackling synth pop.

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Paul Weller believes that The Beatles split at the "right time"

The iconic frontman of The Jam and Style Council has opened up about the impact the band had on him growing up, crediting them for changing the world.

"Mum and Dad had old rock ‘n’ roll records by Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis, which I loved, but The Beatles… It isn’t an exaggeration to say they changed the world for many, many people, me included," he told Mojo magazine.

"They made me see other possibilities. They made me think of other things in this life, that there wasn’t just this little town, there was a world beyond the city walls and I wanted to be a part of it, to see and feel and experience. The Beatles made life possible to explore for normal people… People like me."

The English Rose singer went on: "That anticipation of hearing the next record… Where are they going next? You’re sitting on the boat or the plane with them, and even though I’ll never get near to it, The Beatles set the benchmark for the right approach to music. You move on, you experiment, and it has to be said, The Beatles broke up at the right time. I was devastated back then, but I’m glad they did now. Imagine them going through synth pop in the ‘8os. It would have been shocking."

Why did The Beatles break up? The true story of who left the band first

News of The Beatles split news first came in 1970 after Paul McCartney announced the release of his debut, self-titled solo album. However, the band's official dissolution wasn't formalised until December 1974.

Decades later and McCartney claimed it was actually John Lennon was actually who instigated the breakup, having told the band he wanted to leave the year before.

McCartney lamented about having to bear the brunt of the split at the time, telling the BBC back in 2021: "I had to live with that because that was what people saw. All I could do is say, ‘no’.”

Meanwhile, Paul Weller is set to release his new album, 66, on 24th May this year.

As its title suggests, the record will mark the legendary musician's 66th birthday, which comes the day after the album's release on on 25th May.

From it is his soulful and percussive Soul Wondering track and the first official single to be taken from the album Rise Up Singing.

The "reflective and inward thinking album" comes with artwork designed by Sir Peter Blake - marking the first of Weller's covers he's designed since 1995's Stanley Road.

Worked up in Weller's Black Barn studio over the course of three years with a host of guest musicians, 66 includes 12 songs with lyrical collaborations from Suggs, Noel Gallagher and Bobby Gillespie on Ship Of Fools, Jumble Queen ands Soul Wondering respectively.

Paul Weller's 66 album, which will be available on all major streaming platforms, CD, and vinyl on 24th May - is available to pre-order here.