10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About The Beatles
5. Paul Didn't Want To Play Bass
Though he is now recognised as one of the most influential bass players in the history of popular music, Paul McCartney initially didn't want to play the instrument in the band.
Prior to McCartney making the Hofner violin bass one of the most recognisable instruments in music history, bass duties in The Beatles were performed by Stuart Sutcliffe, a friend of John's and talented artist, who had been roped into buying a bass after selling one of his paintings.
Unfortunately, despite Stuart having a profound effect on the future of the group, being the first to have his hair cut into the iconic Beatles-fringe, he would leave the band to focus on his art, and died of a brain haemorrhage aged just 21.
With the group failing to find a replacement for Sutcliffe, McCartney would later recount in an interview with Bass Player magazine that he reluctantly took up the role for the good of the band, despite having certain negative preconceptions about bass players:
"None of us wanted to be the bass player. It wasn't the number-one job, we wanted to be up front. In our minds, it was the fat guy in the group who nearly always played the bass, and he stood at the back. None of us wanted that; we wanted to be up front singing, looking good, to pull the birds."