Did Pete Best receive Beatles royalties?

Pete Best was sacked from The Beatles in August 1962. Because he did not write any of their material, he has never received royalties. For thirty-three years, he  received no income for the recordings he made with The Beatles 


The release of Anthology 1 (1995) finally resulted in a payday because Pete had featured on ten tracks. These were all recorded before the first official Beatles' studio album.

Which tracks Best play on?

Polydor recordings with Tony Sheridan & the Beat Brothers (Hamburg, 1961. Produced by Bert Kampfert


  • "My Bonnie"
  • "Ain't She Sweet" 
  • "Cry for a Shadow"

Best also played on the Hamburg Ain’t She Sweet but not the adapted version featured on Anthology


Decca Audition recordings (from January 1, 1962)

  • "Searchin'"
  • "Three Cool Cats"
  • "The Sheik of Araby"
  • "Like Dreamers Do" 
  • "Hello Little Girl" (Paul McCartney’s first song)

EMI Artist test recordings (from June 6. 1962

  • "Bésame Mucho"
  • "Love Me Do" 

How much has he been paid?

The initial payment has been estimated to have been between $6 and $9 million. 


More on this story here (4 min read on Medium)


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