The Beatles' final public performance, an unannounced rooftop concert on 30 January 1969, closed the band's live career and was later preserved in film and audio releases.
Key Facts
- Date
- 30 January 1969
- Venue
- 3 Savile Row, Apple Corps HQ rooftop
- Set duration
- 42 minutes
- Songs performed (takes)
- 9 takes of 5 songs
- Guest musician
- Billy Preston (keyboards)
- Closing song
- Get Back
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
As the Beatles recorded what would become their final studio album, they sought a return to live performance. The sessions, filmed for a documentary, culminated in a plan to perform publicly. Rather than a conventional venue, the group chose the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row in central London.
On 30 January 1969, the Beatles and guest keyboardist Billy Preston performed a 42-minute set on the rooftop of 3 Savile Row before lunchtime crowds gathered below. They played nine takes of five songs. The Metropolitan Police arrived and ordered the band to reduce their volume, and the concert concluded with 'Get Back', after which John Lennon quipped about hoping they had passed the audition.
The rooftop concert proved to be the Beatles' last public performance as a group. Footage and recordings were used in the 1970 documentary film Let It Be and the band's final studio album of the same name. Decades later, the footage featured in the 2021 series The Beatles: Get Back, and in 2022 the audio was released to streaming services and a theatrical IMAX cut was issued.