McCartney's 1960s Beatles photos offer rare behind-the-scenes glimpse
Titled "Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris", the show opens on 28 August and offers an unusually intimate look at the band's early days – through the eyes of McCartney himself.
Shot between December 1963 and February 1964 on his 35mm Pentax camera, the photos chronicle the explosive moment just before the Fab Four conquered America.
The images – some single shots, others grouped as contact sheets – capture McCartney and his bandmates during a dizzying period when Beatlemania was erupting across the UK and spreading to Europe.
'Unassuming' and 'unguarded' is how the gallery describes them, and it's not hard to see why: this is the band as only one of their own could see them – backstage, between shows, and in stolen moments of quiet before the storm of global fame.
One haunting self-portrait shows McCartney reflected in a mirror in the attic room of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher's family home, the very place he famously dreamt the melody for the song 'Yesterday'.
Other standout scenes include behind-the-scenes snapshots at the Lewisham Odeon, Finsbury Park Astoria and the London Palladium, where the Beatles played to increasingly frenzied crowds. There's even a set of frames capturing the tense build-up before their transatlantic flight to New York – the beginning of their global takeover.
The prints, remastered from negatives thought lost for over 50 years, are signed by McCartney and issued in a small, carefully crafted edition – each framed in a style he designed himself.
This London exhibition follows McCartney's photography debut earlier this year at Gagosian Beverly Hills, and runs in parallel with the touring show "Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm", currently on view at the De Young Museum in San Francisco.
Whether you're a Beatles die-hard or just curious to see a cultural storm from a new angle, "Rearview Mirror" promises an up-close look at one of the most transformative times in modern music – seen through the eyes of someone who helped shape it.
"Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris" runs at Gagosian London (Davies Street) from 28 August-4 October 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
2 days ago
- Euronews
McCartney's 1960s Beatles photos offer rare behind-the-scenes glimpse
A new exhibition at Gagosian in London will showcase Paul McCartney's candid photographs of the Beatles during their meteoric rise in the early 1960s. Titled "Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris", the show opens on 28 August and offers an unusually intimate look at the band's early days – through the eyes of McCartney himself. Shot between December 1963 and February 1964 on his 35mm Pentax camera, the photos chronicle the explosive moment just before the Fab Four conquered America. The images – some single shots, others grouped as contact sheets – capture McCartney and his bandmates during a dizzying period when Beatlemania was erupting across the UK and spreading to Europe. 'Unassuming' and 'unguarded' is how the gallery describes them, and it's not hard to see why: this is the band as only one of their own could see them – backstage, between shows, and in stolen moments of quiet before the storm of global fame. One haunting self-portrait shows McCartney reflected in a mirror in the attic room of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher's family home, the very place he famously dreamt the melody for the song 'Yesterday'. Other standout scenes include behind-the-scenes snapshots at the Lewisham Odeon, Finsbury Park Astoria and the London Palladium, where the Beatles played to increasingly frenzied crowds. There's even a set of frames capturing the tense build-up before their transatlantic flight to New York – the beginning of their global takeover. The prints, remastered from negatives thought lost for over 50 years, are signed by McCartney and issued in a small, carefully crafted edition – each framed in a style he designed himself. This London exhibition follows McCartney's photography debut earlier this year at Gagosian Beverly Hills, and runs in parallel with the touring show "Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm", currently on view at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. Whether you're a Beatles die-hard or just curious to see a cultural storm from a new angle, "Rearview Mirror" promises an up-close look at one of the most transformative times in modern music – seen through the eyes of someone who helped shape it. "Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris" runs at Gagosian London (Davies Street) from 28 August-4 October 2025.
Euronews
17-07-2025
- Euronews
Connie Francis, singer of viral TikTok hit 'Pretty Little Baby', dies
Connie Francis, the hugely successful pop star of the 1950s and 1960s whose hits include 'Pretty Little Baby', has died aged 87. Her death was announced today by her friend and publicist, Ron Roberts, who did not immediately provide additional details. Francis - born Concetta Rosemarie Franconero on 12 December 1937 - was a top performer of the pre-Beatles era, rarely off the charts from 1957-64. Able to appeal to both young people and adults, she had more than a dozen top 20 hits, starting with 'Who's Sorry Now?' and including the No. 1 songs 'Don't Break the Heart That Loves You' and 'The Heart Has a Mind of Its Own'. Her version of 'Who's Sorry Now?', an old ballad by Ted Snyder, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, gained huge popularity when American TV and radio legend Dick Clark played it on his American Bandstand show in 1958. Francis followed with such teen hits as 'Stupid Cupid' and 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool'. Her records became hits worldwide as she re-recorded versions of her original songs in Italian and Spanish - among other languages. Like other teen favorites of her time, she also starred in several films, including Where the Boys Are and Follow the Boys. She also dated fellow teen idol Bobby Darin, who had volunteered to write songs for her. However, when her father, George Franconero, heard rumors that the pair were planning a wedding, he stormed into a rehearsal and pulled a gun on Darin, ending their relationship and seeming to set Francis on a traumatic path. She chronicled some of it in her autobiography, 'Who's Sorry Now?'. 'My personal life is a regret from A to Z,' she told The Associated Press in 1984, the year the book came out. 'I realized I had allowed my father to exert too much influence over me.' Although her acting career had faded by the mid-1960s, Francis was still popular on the concert circuit when she appeared at the Westbury Music Center in Westbury, New York, in 1974. She had returned to her hotel room and was asleep when a man broke in and raped her at knifepoint. He was never captured. Francis sued the hotel, alleging its security was faulty, and a jury awarded her $2.5 million in 1976. The two sides then settled out of court for $1,475,000 as an appeal was pending. She said the attack destroyed her marriage and put her through years of emotional turmoil. She suffered further tragedy in 1981 when her brother George was shot dead as he was leaving his New Jersey home. Later in the decade, her father had her committed to a psychiatric hospital, where she was diagnosed as manic-depressive. At one point she attempted suicide by swallowing dozens of sleeping tablets. After three days in a coma, she recovered. Her 1961 hit song 'Pretty Little Baby' gained new admirers this year, with the track going viral on TikTok. Thousands of videos have been created with the song on the app, and it has been featured in videos from popular influencers and celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. 😭 Francis recently posted about her viral hit on Facebook: 'My thanks to TikTok and its members for the wonderful, and oh so unexpected, reception...' She wrote that she was 'clearly out of touch,' because when she found out the song was trending on TikTok, her initial response was to ask: 'What's that?' RIP Connie Francis: 1937 - 2025
Euronews
15-07-2025
- Euronews
Beyoncé's unreleased music stolen during 'Cowboy Carter' tour
Hard drives containing unreleased music from Beyoncé have reportedly been stolen out of a rental car at the singer's Cowboy Carter tour in Atlanta. Local authorities received reports of theft from a vehicle on 8 July – two days before the first of her four concerts in the city. The vehicle in question was rented by Beyoncé's choreographer Christopher Grant, who had arrived in Atlanta early to prep for the singer's mini-residency. Along with the unreleased music on five thumb drives were footage, show plans and concert set lists. Two MacBook laptops, Apple headphones, as well as luxury clothing and accessories were also reported stolen. The Atlanta Police Department said in a news release on Monday it has secured an arrest warrant for a suspect whose identity was withheld. Beyoncé kicked off her tour in late April, taking her Grammy-winning album 'Cowboy Carter' to stadiums in the US and Europe. Her record-breaking album made our Best Albums of 2024 list, in which we said: "Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' lassos American country music's stale stereotypes in a powerful reclamation of the genre's Black roots. (...) It's a topic that's addressed from the outset: 'AMERIICAN REQUIEM' is a slow-burning choral rebellion against outdated, racist ideologies that seek to pigeonhole artists and erase those that contributed to a genre purely because they don't fit its heavily politicised image. The rest of the 27-track album is a tour de force of tearing it all apart, melding genres and utilising the familiar (on tracks like Beatles' cover 'BLACKBIIRD') to remind listeners of the ways in which Black peoples' stories have been claimed by white people." Beyoncé will end her tour with two Las Vegas nights on 25 and 26 July.
