ADVERTISEMENT

Back to Pop Alter-Egos

The Beatles/Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Keystone/Getty Images | Parlophone/EMI

Sgt. Pepper’s band might be among the most famous musical alter-egos of all time, but it's also one of the most haphazard. Paul McCartney originally came up with the idea for a fictional band that the Beatles could portray in an effort to make a record that would promote itself without the aid of a grueling tour. They would create a character for each Beatle and then record an entire album as their fictitious counterparts. The execution of this idea didn't really make it past the second song on the 'Sgt. Pepper’ album, though. The title track starts off well enough, with introductions to the imaginary band, and then Ringo performs 'With a Little Help From My Friends' in character, but other than a reprise of 'Friends,' the rest of the songs are more Beatles than Lonely Hearts Club. “Every other song could have been on any other album,” John Lennon once admitted. Even so, the record is still considered a groundbreaking concept album.

ADVERTISEMENT


Follow AOL Music on Tumblr

CATEGORIES



Also on AOL

Your Settings

{email}

Subscriptions

Weekly Newsletter

AOL Music Blog news in your mailbox. Top Articles, reviews, photos & more.

Realtime alerts

Daily alerts


Update
Cancel