Standing on the top floor of the house where he used to live, Pete Best is staring up at a cluster of framed photographs.
Now 82, he’s looking back at a younger version of himself. One, with dark hair in a leather jacket, is sitting in front of a drum kit.
The three men who stood beside him are easy to recognise – his former bandmates, George Harrison, Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
They’d go on to form part of music’s most famous quartet.
Image: Best said he has had time to reflect on one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ in music. Pic: PA
While Best was dropped from the line-up and replaced by Ringo Starr, six decades on, he says he has had time to reflect on one of the biggest “what ifs” in pop history.
“I’ve had 60 great years of being Pete as well as being a Beatle. It is part of your life, it’s lovely to be associated with it, but life goes on,” he said.
“Initially it was a lot of hardship and financial embarrassment, but life compensates. Maybe it was my karma, maybe it wasn’t meant to be.”
As well as taking the time to think, Best has come up with business ventures founded on his connection to the group.
The latest, launched today by Best and his younger brother Roag, gives the public a chance to stay in their old home.
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Image: The house at 8 Hayman’s Green in the West Derby area of Liverpool. Pic: PA
It also happened to be one of the places where the Beatles began to take their first steps in the industry.
The Casbah Club is a grade II listed Victorian mansion, bought by Best’s mother Mona, who had the idea of a members-only club for her sons and their friends, to meet and listen to music.
The imprints of The Beatles, then known as The Quarrymen, are all over the basement where they would have played.
The group helped decorate the space and you can still see where John Lennon carved his name into the walls with a penknife. On sweaty evenings, hundreds of people would have crammed in to watch their gigs.
Image: The Lennon Suite. Pic: PA
Image: The Best Suite. Pic: PA
Today, there were dozens of people downstairs and more people in the rooms upstairs, which guests can now book.
The suites are named after Paul, John, George, Peter and original bass player Stuart Sutcliffe – but not Ringo.
Image: The Sutcliffe Suite. Pic: PA
Image: The Harrison Suite. Pic: PA
“The Beatles played here, The Beatles partied here and The Beatles slept here,” said Best, adding the accommodation was a “projection” of his mother’s dream.
This moment is also a reminder of the fact that after Beatlemania, came a nostalgia that still has an appeal and still sells.
Image: The McCartney Suite. Pic: PA
Evelyn and Andy were the first to book a room, travelling from Glasgow.
In the Paul McCartney suite, dotted with pictures of the man it’s named after, as well as a replica of his guitar, Evelyn described the Beatles as “almost like friends” to her. She added that she does her best to go to Beatles-themed events and places whenever she can.
But as well as a business opportunity, the house now being used as a bed and breakfast is a reflection on how close Best came to being part of Beatlemania.
Debbie Greenberg, who ran the Cavern Club, another Liverpool venue famously linked to the group, can still remember when he was dropped from the line-up.
“Pete was a very good-looking guy and had a lot of followers. The word got round he’d been replaced by Ringo and we all started to chant,” recalled Ms Greenberg.
“We were all chanting ‘Pete forever, Ringo never’. To be suddenly replaced, when they were on the verge of something big, must have been so soul-destroying for him. So, you know he deserves everything he’s got today,” she added.
An American Idol TV executive and her husband have been found dead in their LA home.
Robin Kaye was a music supervisor on the long-running reality TV series.
The bodies of the 70-year-old and her husband Thomas were discovered after officers conducted a welfare check at their home.
Both had died from gunshot wounds.
Image: Robin Kaye and her husband Thomas. Pic: Facebook
Detectives say Raymond Boodarian has been arrested in connection with their deaths.
It is alleged the 22-year-old had burgled their property while they were away on 10 July – killing the couple upon their return.
According to Los Angeles Police, there were “no signs of forced entry or trouble” at the property.
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Ms Kaye was an industry veteran – and had previously worked on shows including Lip Sync Battle and The Singing Bee, as well as several Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
In a statement, an American Idol spokesperson said: “Robin has been a cornerstone of the Idol family since 2009 and was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her.
“Robin will remain in our hearts forever and we share our deepest sympathy with her family and friends during this difficult time.”
Huge steel fences have been erected to prevent ticketless fans from watching the Oasis reunion tour in Manchester.
Liam and Noel Gallagher will resume their sold-out run of shows – their first since 2009 – with a performance at Heaton Park tonight, and two more on Saturday and Sunday.
While tens of thousands bought tickets for Oasis’sfirst two shows last weekend, crowds gathered to glimpse the large screens above the stage in the distance – in an area dubbed “Gallagher Hill” by some on social media.
Image: People walk past a temporary security fence erected ahead of concerts by Oasis in Heaton Park on 1 July. Reuters file pic
Manchester City Council has now said more steel fences have been erected around parts of the park to prevent ticketless fans from watching the gigs, and to protect nature in the park.
“After taking stock of how the first two nights went, additional measures have now been deemed necessary and will be in place for the next three concerts,” it said.
“The erection of the fencing has a dual purpose – both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there.
“The necessary measure means the concert will no longer be visible from this area.”
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The fences will cover a large area of the hill within the park’s cattle field, which is being developed as a new woodland area with around 300 young trees planted.
The council added that there would be no facilities for people without a ticket, and said the event area is “double-walled with solid high security fencing all the way round”.
More than 2,000 event security staff and police officers will also be on duty around the site “to ensure both the safety and wellbeing of ticket-holders and that only those who have tickets access the concert”, it said.
John Hacking, the council’s executive member for employment, skills and leisure, also said in a statement that “unfortunately our hand has been forced in having to put these additional measures in place”.
He added: “Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead.
“The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time.
“We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy, whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
MasterChef presenter John Torode will no longer work on the show after an allegation he used an “extremely offensive racist term” was upheld, the BBC has said.
His co-host Gregg Wallace was also sacked last week after claims of inappropriate behaviour.
On Monday, Torode said an allegation he used racist language was upheld in a report into the behaviour of Wallace. The report found more than half of 83 allegations against Wallace were substantiated.
Torode, 59, insisted he had “absolutely no recollection” of the alleged incident involving him and he “did not believe that it happened,” adding “racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment”.
Image: John Torode and Gregg Wallace in 2008. Pic: PA
In a statement on Tuesday, a BBCspokesperson said the allegation “involves an extremely offensive racist term being used in the workplace”.
The claim was “investigated and substantiated by the independent investigation led by the law firm Lewis Silkin”, they added.
“The BBC takes this upheld finding extremely seriously,” the spokesperson said.
“We will not tolerate racist language of any kind… we told Banijay UK, the makers of MasterChef, that action must be taken.
“John Torode’s contract on MasterChef will not be renewed.”
Australian-born Torode started presenting MasterChef alongside Wallace, 60, in 2005.
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A statement from Banijay UK said it “takes this matter incredibly seriously” and Lewis Silkin “substantiated an accusation of highly offensive racist language against John Torode which occurred in 2018”.
“This matter has been formally discussed with John Torode by Banijay UK, and whilst we note that John says he does not recall the incident, Lewis Silkin have upheld the very serious complaint,” the TV production company added.
“Banijay UK and the BBC are agreed that we will not renew his contract on MasterChef.”
Earlier, as the BBC released its annual report, its director-general Tim Davie addressed MasterChef’s future, saying it can survive as it is “much bigger than individuals”.
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Speaking to BBC News after Torode was sacked, Mr Davie said a decision is yet to be taken over whether an unseen MasterChef series – filmed with both Wallace and Torode last year – will be aired.
“It’s a difficult one because… those amateur chefs gave a lot to take part – it means a lot, it can be an enormous break if you come through the show,” he added.
“I want to just reflect on that with the team and make a decision, and we’ll communicate that in due course.”
Mr Davie refused to say what the “seriously racist term” Torode was alleged to have used but said: “I certainly think we’ve drawn a line in the sand.”
In 2022, Torode was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, for services to food and charity.