Pete Best
Randolph Peter Best arrived in the world on the 24th of November 1941 within Madras, then part of British India. His mother Mona Best was a doctor-in-training serving with the Red Cross when she met Johnny Best. Johnny came from a family of sports promoters who ran Liverpool Stadium, a boxing arena. The couple married on the 7th of March 1944 at St Thomas's Cathedral in Bombay. Their first child together, Rory Best, followed shortly after the wedding. Pete's biological father was marine engineer Donald Peter Scanland, who died during World War II. The Best family sailed for four weeks to Liverpool aboard the Georgic. This vessel was the last troop ship to leave India carrying single and married soldiers. They had previously been part of General William Slim's forces in south-east Asia. The ship docked in Liverpool on the 25th of December 1945.
The Beatles began their season of bookings in Hamburg on the 17th of August 1960 under manager Allan Williams. Paul McCartney looked for someone to fill the drummer position since the group had no permanent member. Best played bass drum on all four beats in the bar which pushed the rhythm forward. He earned £15 per week while performing in Germany. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Stuart Sutcliffe took recreational drugs called Preludin to stay awake during long hours. Best always refused these pills despite his bandmates' usage. The group slept in the Bambi Kino cinema inside a small dirty room with bunk beds. They bought leather jackets and jeans because stage suits could not withstand the sweating and jumping required by nightly performances. Best initially preferred cooler short sleeves that did not match the group's new style. He later appeared in photos wearing the leather jacket and jeans like the others. The first complete show with Best occurred at the Indra Club in Hamburg on the 17th of August 1960.
Brian Epstein arranged a recording audition at Decca Records in London on New Year's Day 1962. The group recorded fifteen songs including three Lennon-McCartney compositions. Best also recorded Going Back Manchester with John Lennon at this time. A month later Decca informed Epstein the group had been rejected. All band members except for Best received the rejection notice. EMI producer George Martin met Epstein on the 9th of May 1962 at Abbey Road studios. He agreed to sign the Beatles based on listening to the Decca audition tape without seeing them perform live. The band performed a commercial test session on the 6th of June 1962 in Studio Two at the Abbey Road studios. Engineer Norman Smith stated it was mainly down to what Pete played rather than how he played when Love Me Do was first recorded. Martin found Best's timing inadequate and wanted to replace him with an experienced studio session drummer. Ron Richards said Pete Best wasn't very good and that they needed to change the drummer immediately.
Epstein decided that if the group was to remain happy, Pete Best must go. Best played his last two gigs with the Beatles on the 15th of August at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. Brian Epstein summoned Best to his office and dismissed him on Thursday the 16th of August ten weeks and a day after the first recording session. Epstein asked Best to play with the Beatles on 16 and the 17th of August at the Riverpark Ballroom in Chester. Best agreed but changed his heart and did not turn up. Johnny Hutchinson of the Big Three was rushed in as a substitute. Bill Harry reported Best's dismissal on the front page of Mersey Beat magazine upsetting many fans. Some fans shouted Pete forever Ringo never during street encounters. One agitated fan headbutted Harrison in The Cavern giving him a black eye. McCartney and Harrison had wanted Starr from the beginning after he sat in with them at shows when Best was absent. Starr accompanied the band on their second recording session with EMI at Abbey Road studios on the 4th of September 1962.
Best decided to leave show business after being dismissed from the Beatles. He married Kathy a Woolworths sales clerk whom he met at an early Beatles show in 1963. They have remained married and have two daughters and four grandchildren. Best shifted work loading bread into the back of delivery vans earning £8 a week. His education qualifications helped him become a civil servant working at the Garston Jobcentre in Liverpool. He rose from employment officer to training manager for the Northwest of England. He remembered a steady stream of real-life Yosser Hughes types imploring him to give them jobs. The most he could do was offer to retrain them in other fields which was an emotional issue for people who had done one kind of work all their lives. Best attempted suicide in the 1960s but his mother Mona and brother Rory prevented him from completing it. He later sued the Beatles for defamation of character eventually agreeing to an out-of-court settlement for much less than the $18 million he had sought.
In 1995 the surviving Beatles released Anthology 1 featuring ten tracks with Best as drummer including songs from the Decca and Parlophone auditions. Best received a substantial windfall between £1 million and £4 million from the sales though he was not interviewed for the book or documentaries. According to writer Philip Norman the first time Best knew about royalties due him was a phone call from Paul McCartney himself. This marked the first time they had spoken since the dismissal occurred. Some wrongs need to be righted McCartney told him. There's some money here that's owing to you and you can take it or leave it. Best took it. However Best asserts that it was Neil Aspinall and not McCartney who phoned him. A small photograph of Best appears on the left side of the Anthology cover collage. The collage includes an early group photo where Best's head was removed revealing a photo of Starr's head taken from the Please Please Me cover photo.
In 1988 after twenty years of turning down all requests to play drums in public Best finally relented appearing at a Beatles convention in Liverpool. He and his brother Roag performed afterwards when his wife and mother both told him You don't know it but you're going to go back into show business. The Pete Best Band's album Haymans Green made entirely from original material was released on the 16th of September 2008 in the US. Following a long run of regularly touring the world with the Pete Best Band sharing drumming with his younger brother Roag, Best announced retirement from public appearances on the 5th of April 2025 due to personal circumstances. On the 6th of July 2007 Best was inducted into the All You Need Is Liverpool Music Hall of Fame as the debut Charter Member. Liverpool further honoured Best by announcing two new streets named Pete Best Drive and Casbah Close on the 25th of July 2011. On the 3rd of November 2025 the main belt asteroid was named in his honour.
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Common questions
When and where was Pete Best born?
Randolph Peter Best arrived in the world on the 24th of November 1941 within Madras, then part of British India. His mother Mona Best was a doctor-in-training serving with the Red Cross when she met Johnny Best.
Why did Brian Epstein fire Pete Best from the Beatles?
EMI producer George Martin found Best's timing inadequate and wanted to replace him with an experienced studio session drummer. Ron Richards said Pete Best wasn't very good and that they needed to change the drummer immediately.
What happened to Pete Best after he left the Beatles?
Best decided to leave show business after being dismissed from the Beatles and later became a civil servant working at the Garston Jobcentre in Liverpool. He rose from employment officer to training manager for the Northwest of England before announcing retirement from public appearances on the 5th of April 2025 due to personal circumstances.
Did Pete Best receive royalties from Anthology 1 released in 1995?
The surviving Beatles released Anthology 1 featuring ten tracks with Best as drummer including songs from the Decca and Parlophone auditions. Best received a substantial windfall between £1 million and £4 million from the sales though he was not interviewed for the book or documentaries.
When was Pete Best inducted into the All You Need Is Liverpool Music Hall of Fame?
On the 6th of July 2007 Best was inducted into the All You Need Is Liverpool Music Hall of Fame as the debut Charter Member. Liverpool further honoured Best by announcing two new streets named Pete Best Drive and Casbah Close on the 25th of July 2011.