**2000**

January 5
SIR PAUL McCARTNEY DONATES MILLION IN MEMORY OF LINDA

The Arizona Cancer Center was given $1 million (£625,000) for research named in honors for his late wife Linda who died of cancer. Sir Paul also donated another 1 million to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York .

August 1
THE BEATLES BECOME THE TOPPER MOST OF THE POPPER MOST:
"THE FAB FOUR STAND FIRM AS HIGHEST CERTIFIED ARTISTS!"

Reporter Christina Saraceno of Rolling Stone.com writes: "Forget all the rock/rap hybrids and teen pop that are ruling the Soundscan charts -- more than forty years after their formation, the Beatles have six albums that hit new multi-platinum (sales of one million) heights, according to the Recording Industry Association of America's July certifications.

"The White Album" led the pack at eighteen million, making it one of the seven highest certified albums of all time. Right behind The Beatles ("The White Album") are The Beatles 1967-1970 at fifteen million, The Beatles 1962-1966 at fourteen million, Magical Mystery Tour at six million, Revolver at five million and Love Songs at three million. The July certifications bring the Beatles' totals up to 113.5 million units, solidifying their spot as the highest certified artists in history.

October 5
"THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY" book is released

With 340,000 words and 1,300 images spread out over 368 pages, The Beatles first memoir is released by Chronicle Books on this date. Matt Hurwitz of Good Day Sunshine magazine in an interview with Edna Gundersen of USA Today, reports the Anthology as "a well-put-together book that certainly worth the price. The four most important pop-culture icons of the past several decades finally tell their own story and set the record straight," he says. "Funny thing is, they have different recollections."

In that same report, leading Beatle historian Martin Lewis had this to say about the Beatles Anthology book: "It's an absolute joy to possess....It's an auto-chronology, in the tradition of an oral history. People react differently when responding in spoken word to posed questions. It's the difference between recollection and reflection. The Beatles have made such a deep impact on society and history and culture, they owe it to themselves to place their immense contribution in perspective."

The USA Today report revealed that 75% of attendees at Los Angeles and New York Beatle Conventions are under the age of 25. With such a captivating interest held today by the younger generation regarding The Beatles and their music, Martin Lewis related that this group of Beatle fans will also embrace the new book: "Cynics, all these Blue Meanies, claim The Beatles appeal only to boomers", Lewis says, "But young people like the music and understand the message. You can be Dionysian, like the Stones or Eminem, and be negative and aggressive, or you can be Apollonian, like The Beatles, and engage with the noblest part of the human spirit. That never goes out of fashion, because it's natural to yearn for things to be better."

October 14
"THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY" tops New York Times bestseller list

As reported in Rolling Stone.com by Andrew Dansby: "Anyone who thinks Beatlemania died with the birth of the Seventies is mistaken. The Beatles Anthology hit stores a week ago to reams of press and scores of eager buyers, enough to send the book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. A sixty dollar price tag for the coffee-table book didn't seem to have any affect on Anthology's sales as the book outsold all non-fiction hardcovers on the Times' Oct. 22-28 bestseller list, even besting the debut of Stephen King's latest book, the anticipated On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

With an initial printing of 300,000...the book has been moving in numbers large enough to put it atop Barnes & Noble.com's list of bestsellers. A more telling statistic is the book's life in independent bookstores. One of New York City 's finest independent booksellers, Coliseum Books, reports that they've sold more than half of their initial shipment and after one week, they've placed an additional order for more copies, describing the early sales for such a pricey book as "quite strong."

October 17
Walter Shenson, producer of the first two Beatle movies, "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!" passes away at the age of 81.

October 26
PAUL McCARTNEY HAS NEW LOVE

On an Independent British television program where Heather Mills was being interviewed, Paul made a surprise guest appearance. Said the show's producer, Will Hanrahan, "Sir Paul and Heather are quite clearly madly in love and we are delighted to have been part of that."

Paul McCartney expressed that his year-long relationship with Heather Mills has put "romance back into my life. I love her, and I get a lot of pleasure from that." Paul also acknowledged that his relationship to Mills had helped him overcome the pain of losing his wife Linda, who died two years ago as a result of breast cancer (Linda and Paul were happily married together for more than 30 years up until that point.)

November 13
THE BEATLES 1 (double-lp; CD; cassette) is released (Apple/EMI Records)

With a collection of 27 all-time chart-topping hits assembled on an album, The Beatles 1 becomes the 15th U.K. No.1 record by John, Paul, George, and Ringo. A report dated November 22 from the Reuters news agency, declared the album as being officially certified as the fastest-selling album in Britain . A spokesman for the three surviving Beatles said: "The record has sold more than 319,000 copies in Britain in its first week. Robbie Williams sold 313,000 albums earlier this year, so the Beatles have topped him." In that same report, a spokesman for Tower Records in Britain mentioned: "Teen bands seem to knock each other off the charts week after week....They don't seem to have staying power, but the Beatles certainly do." In the United States , since the albums first debut, a November 22 report in Billboard Magazine claimed the album had sold 595,000 copies. Capitol president Roy Lott said "1" is also tops in 16 other countries to date, including such key markets as Japan , Germany , Britain , France , Canada , Australia and Spain . Towards the end of November, a revised figure from Reuters news agency revealed that the new album actually "has hit number one in 19 countries in its first week of release". The same report went on to say that Japan 's fans led the way, buying up 750,000 copies of the Beatles' greatest hits album.

By the end of the third week, Beatles 1 became the No. #1 album in 28 different countries. Having thus sold 12 million copies within those first three weeks, the disc is recorded by the press as the fastest seller ever in the pop music industry.

 

Also on this date "THE BEATLES 1" official website is launched
Executive producer for the site is Neil Aspinall

Click on the Beatles 1 album cover above...the link will transport you to another historical magical mystery tour of the band filled with rare photos of The Beatles and slick high-tech computer animation!

November 17
THE BEATLES REVOLUTION
"The Beatles helped bring down communism in Russia "

ABC Television in the United States broadcasts a two-hour documentary called "The Beatles Revolution". The show was televised on Friday between 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. which attracted 8.7 million viewers.

Milos Forman, director of Academy Award-winning "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," said: "It sounds ridiculous but I'm convinced The Beatles are partly responsible for the fall of Communism."

His claim is backed up by Dr. Yury Pelyushonok, a Canadian based Doctor of Soviet Studies in Medicine and author of "Strings For A Beatle Bass" who grew up in the former USSR in the 1960s: "The Beatles had this tremendous impact on Soviet kids. The Soviet authorities thought of The Beatles as a secret Cold War weapon," he said.

"The kids lost their interest in all Soviet unshakable dogmas and ideals, and stopped thinking of an English speaking person as the enemy."

As the interview progressed, Milos Forman also added in: "That's when the Communists lost two generations of young people ideologically, totally lost. That was an incredible impact." Rolling Stone Keith Richards suggests that the music of the 1960s played a big part in bringing about the end of Communism: "After those billions of dollars, and living under the threat of doom, what brought it down? Blue jeans and rock 'n' roll."

Interestingly enough, the ABC television program pointed out that today there is a special "Yellow Submarine Ride" with Beatle cartoons located at what was once known as "Check-point Charlie" at the Berlin wall. The ride is used to help to bridge and mend the differences between East verses West societies. "All You Need Is Love" cartoon was featured as the younger children in the ride watched on.

See letter to The Guardian from Dr. Yury Pelyushonok. Also, The Ottawa Citizen did an interview with Dr. Pelyushonok entitled: "He loves them, yeah, yeah, yeah". 

Plus, an Ottawa Beatle Site special presentation: John Lennon Wall in Prague, circa July, 20, 2000, with photo and brief write-up presented by Jean-Pierre Allard, Ottawa Freelance Sports Writer.

December 18
The Beatles Get Back where they belong

Ananova.com reports that the Beatles 1 album has "become 2000's biggest-selling album - in only five weeks. The album "1" overtook Moby's Play at the weekend by breaking 1.3 million sales. It is at the number 1 in the UK chart for the fifth consecutive week, the longest run by the Beatles since Abbey Road in 1969."

The Ottawa Citizen reported (December 16) that the CD is "not just No. 1 in Canada and the U.S. It is at the top of the charts in 35 other countries."