1966: The Year the Decade Exploded

By Jon Savage

The Beatles staged their third and final concert tour of North America in August 1966. It consisted of 19 performances, 17 in the United States and two in Canada. The tour was plagued by backlash regarding the controversy of John Lennon's remark about the Beatles being "more popular than Jesus", death threats, and the band's own dissatisfaction with the noise levels and their ability to perform live. Their speaking out against the Vietnam War added further controversy to the visit. The band played to large audiences in open-air stadiums throughout the tour, but ticket sales were hindered by the "Jesus" controversy. The US press reported a less frenzied response from the group's fans and speculated on the end of Beatlemania. Having already decided to retire from live performances at the end of the year, the 1966 US tour was the last series of commercial concerts undertaken by the Beatles having performed on 14 tours (11 as the headliner and 3 as a co-headliner) since 1963. Thereafter, they continued as a studio-only band and focused exclusively on record production.