Pete Best, the drummer for The Beatles who was hastily hired to join the band for concerts in Hamburg, Germany, in August 1960, until he was replaced by Ringo Starr in August 1962, has retired from personal appearances, including concert performances. The news was announced today (April 5, 2025) by his brother Roag Best in a Facebook post. “Everything comes to pass,” the brother wrote. “What an absolute wonderful ride we’ve had.” Roag Best indicated that it was his brother’s daughter “who informed me it was for personal circumstances.” A day later, Pete Best made his first public comment.
I had a blast. Thank you. https://t.co/p9dRTpwBV1
— Pete Best (@BeatlesPeteBest) April 6, 2025
A day earlier, it had been revealed that Best, who turned 83 last November 24, was being replaced at the annual Abbey Road on the River festival in Jefferson, Ind., by former Wings guitarist Laurence Juber. Roag Best’s post noted his brother’s planned concert in Liverpool for August was cancelled. Just last month, The Pete Best Band played a series of concerts in the U.S.
In August 1960, The Beatles were due to leave Liverpool for a residency at the Indra club in Hamburg in just a few days, but lacked one vital element – a drummer. The solution was someone they already knew.
One of the venues where they played when still the Quarrymen was the Casbah Coffee Club, run in the basement of her home by Mona Best. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison had helped decorate the space and played there on its opening night. Mona’s son Pete, was a drummer who, like the members of The Quarrymen, was taken in by the beat group craze.
John, Paul and George had seen Best play with his group the Black Jacks. An audition at the Casbah was arranged on August 12 and Pete was hired. The next day they headed to Hamburg, where Best made his debut on August 17 with the band.
In Hamburg, Best had a leg-up on the other band members because he had passed his O-levels in German. A somewhat taciturn loner, he didn’t bond with Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. When the band’s fan Astrid Kirchherr – whose photos of The Beatles in the Hamburg days became iconic images – persuaded John, Paul and George to let down their slicked-back hairstyles into the bowl cut that became a Beatles trademark, Best retained his quiff.
Following the June 1962 Beatles audition for George Martin, the producer had concerns about the steadiness of Best’s time. In August the band’s manager Brian Epstein informed the drummer he was being let go. Starr was hired to replace him.
Best’s sacking stirred up controversy with the avid Liverpool Beatles fans, especially the female ones. As McCartney said in The Beatles Anthology documentary, “He was a very good-looking guy, and out of all the people in our group, the girls used to go for Pete.”
It’s said that he never spoke again to his onetime bandmates. His role in the band’s development was acknowledged in 1995 by the inclusion of 10 tracks on which he played on the first audio disc of the Anthology set, which reportedly earned Best an estimated £1-4 million in royalties.
Missing out on worldwide fame and fortune at first took its toll on the drummer. But over time he has come to accept his fate and even enjoy the measure of fame that once being a Beatle brought him.
Watch an appearance Best made on Late Night with David Letterman in 1982
Various books and recordings on Best are available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
Related: Best appeared on the TV show I’ve Got a Secret in 1964
2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationThe “Pete Best Band” Played at the British Themed Pub ‘The King’s Head’ on 7/23/2003 in Campbell, CA.. WHAT A NIGHT!! It was like Listening to the “Fab Four” All Over Again.. Pete Played a Set List of (12) Songs.. The CONCERT was Loud and Rowdy.. Pete had an Autograph Signing on the Pub’s Patio for Photo OP’s.. Pete is both a Great Drummer and quite the Gentleman.. Loved Every Moment..
What a Happy Memory!! Thank you PETE BEST and The ‘King’s Head’ Pub..
Finally figured out why this website is called Best Classic Bands, it is named after Pete Best.