Global Beatles Day is going to be special this year.
A Beatles fan called Faith Cohen launched a campaign to mark Global Beatles Day back in 2009, with the date selected to mark the anniversary of the band’s 1967 performance of “All You Need Is Love”. Fans quickly followed Cohen, celebrating the Liverpool legends around the world.
To celebrate this year’s event, Apple Corps is releasing a colourised version of the band’s “All You Need Is Love” broadcast (as per Rolling Stone), which was part of the BBC’s One World programme.
On June 25th almost six decades ago, The Beatles — alongside guests including some of The Rolling Stones, The Who, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, and Marianne Faithfull — met at Abbey Road’s Studio One to perform “All You Need Is Love”, in what was widely regarded as a seminal moment in ’60s music history.
The upcoming release will mark the first official time the performance has been posted online.
“[Global Beatles Day] honors and amplifies the enduring phenomenon and ideals of the Beatles, both collectively and individually, and their extraordinary gifts to the world,” the event’s website, created by Cohen, says. “Their influence extends far beyond music, reflecting a commitment to peace and love, youth, and the expansion of human consciousness.”
A form is accessible on the site where fans can sign up to show support for the movement’s message.
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“More than ever, the message of the Beatles, and of ‘All You Need Is Love’ speaks to something vital for community, connection, and the power of bringing people together,” Apple Corps CEO wrote to Cohen in a letter. “That is what makes Global Beatles Day so special. It asks nothing more than for people, wherever they are, to stop, listen, and share a little joy.”
According to John Lennon, who co-wrote the song with Paul McCartney, the song is meant to be aspirational.
“When I was singing about ‘all you need is love,’ I was singing about something I hadn’t experienced,” he said. “I’d experienced love for people in gusts, and love for things, trees, things like that, but I hadn’t experienced what I was singing about.”
