John Lennon Took Brian Epstein’s Death as Hard as the Loss of His ‘Soul Mate’

In 1967, John Lennon , Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr received news that their longtime manager, Brian Epstein, died of an overdose . Epstein’s death was unexpected and deeply shook the band. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was with the band at the time and he told them to be happy and celebrate Epstein’s life.

The band tried to do this, but Cynthia Lennon said her husband was still utterly devastated. John Lennon was devastated by the death of Stuart Sutcliffe Before The Beatles were a successful band, their lineup was a bit different. Starr joined the band in 1962; before him, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best were members.

The former was one of Lennon’s closest friends . Not long after Sutcliffe left the band, he died of a brain hemorrhage. Lennon took the news hard when Sutcliffe’s girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr, told him.

“John went into hysterics,” Kirchherr said, per The New Yorker . “We couldn’t make out . .

. whether he was laughing or crying because he did everything at once. I remember him sitting on a bench, huddled over, and he was shaking, rocking backward and forward.

” According to Yoko Ono, Lennon had always viewed Sutcliffe as a “soul mate.” John Lennon had a similar reaction to Brian Epstein’s death Five years later, Lennon had a similar reaction to Epstein’s death. According to Cynthia Lennon, he was “numb” and “traumatized” when he first heard the news.

She said he reacted in the same way that he had after Sutcliffe’s.