The week in 1971 when all four Beatles had a solo hit in the charts at the same time

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The week in 1971 when all four Beatles had a solo hit in the charts at the same time

Lauren Hunter

Far Out Magazine

Mon 24 August 2026

Credit: Bruce McBroom / Apple Corps LTD

It always seemed like the more The Beatles tried to get away from each other, the more they inevitably became tied back together.

It has to be said that the band were quite an anomaly, as most other rock outfits going their separate ways would wish for a clean break, particularly after a break-up as acrimonious as theirs was. Yet time and time again, the Fabs always found their way back to one another, whether it was writing songs in cahoots or simply lending an ear.

However, if there was anything bound to get each of their individual backs up, it would be getting pitted against each other in the charts. It was a natural consequence they were always going to have to face at some point in the aftermath of the band, but it was a vicious sting when April 1971 delivered that predicament while the wounds were still fresh.

The four-pronged attack began as George Harrison reigned supreme at the top of the UK charts, with his seminal ‘My Sweet Lord’ having sealed the deal straight to victory. It was a stunning achievement, making him the first solo Beatle to take the number one crown, although admittedly Ringo Starr had a hand in the track’s instrumentation. All hail King George.

However, if Harrison wanted a bit of space to exert his power, he wasn’t being granted it as Paul McCartney’s debut solo standalone single, ‘Another Day’, was hot on his heels when it peaked in the number two position, having been steadily climbing for the better part of two months. Unlike his chart-topping bandmate, though, Macca had the added smugness that the song had been written by him and Linda McCartney, proving they could definitely go it alone.

By the same token, John Lennon was following closely behind on the warpath, sitting pretty at number seven with The Plastic Ono Band’s ‘Power to the People’. It was a song destined to become one of the driving forces behind the activism that would shape the rest of his life and musicianship, so he was waiting as the song gradually became a protest anthem to the whole world.

That left Starr, who trailed the rest of the pack in one respect, but bided his time until his own latest tune, ‘It Didn’t Come Easy’, became a powerhouse. As such, while three of The Beatles occupied the top ten on April 17th, 1971, the drummer was proving, as he had done many times before, that slow and steady wins the race. 

The song had only just made its first entry into the charts on that day, while his friends seemed to be on top of the sonic world, but Starr was right to know that his moment in the spotlight was still to come. Eventually, the song climbed all the way to number four, precisely proving the mantra that many things don’t, in fact, come easy, and the rewards come to those who wait. 

Regardless of the respective positions, though, no one could deny that the influence of The Beatles has never stopped being all-consuming, even after a time when the band itself was seemingly long since dead and gone. Some might have wished they’d done it sooner, but in the end, both collectively and individually, none of the Fab Four were strangers to a chart rocket.