Profile of Peter Best on Famous Like Me

Randolph Peter Best (born November 24, 1941 in Madras, India) was the original drummer for The Beatles. The son of Mona Best, the owner of Liverpool's Casbah Club, where the Beatles played occasionally, Best was first invited to join the band in 1959, later rejoining for their 1960–1961 residency in Hamburg. He stayed until shortly after their first audition for EMI in 1962, but was fired on August 16 of that year, to be eventually replaced by Ringo Starr, then of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.

Best was told of the firing by the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein. The reason given was that George Martin, who was to become the Beatles' producer, had been dissatisfied with Best's drumming (which was solid, but lacking in flair or "chops") and intended to replace him on their recordings. (Indeed, Martin did use a studio drummer on their first single session.) Besides, he had never completely fit in with Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, spending his offstage time alone, and refusing to change his ducktail hairstyle when the band adopted the Beatle haircut. Starr, on the other hand, readily joined in the others' doings, had an appealing, unique playing style, and was already quite popular in the 'Mersey scene'. In fact, it has been speculated that another reason for firing Best (and hiring Ringo) was to draw fans from one of their primary local rivals.

(However, it should be noted that in an appearance on an American game show roughly two years later, Best seemed to deny that he was fired. Asked why "he left the band[sic]", the still-ducktailed Best replied shyly that he "...didn't think they would go as far as they did.")

When word of Best's replacement broke in Liverpool (through outlets like Mersey Beat), many Beatles fans were upset; George Harrison actually got a black eye from one. Quite a few female fans considered him to be the band's best-looking member -- at many early shows, Best had had his own group of female fans present in the audience.

After his split with the Beatles, Best joined Lee Curtis & The All Stars, which then broke off from Curtis renamed itself in September 1963 as The Pete Best Four. They signed to Beatles-rejector Decca Records and released the single "I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door", which failed to gain an audience. The group then relocated to the U.S. and did some recording for small labels. Personnel changes in early 1965 increased the group's size to five, with the new name The Pete Best Combo. They toured the U.S. but had little success, aside from the release of an album on Cameo Records questionably titled Best of the Beatles. (The title was meant to refer to his former band, but naturally, record buyers complained.)

Best apparently tried to commit suicide in 1965 by locking himself in a room and inhaling fumes from a gas fire. Best filed a libel suit against the Beatles in October 1965 because Starr implied in an interview with Playboy magazine that the band had fired Best because he was a drug user. A subsequent libel suit was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Best decided to leave show business, and in Hunter Davies' 1968 authorized Beatles biography Best was portrayed as both somewhat bitter but also unwilling to further talk about or otherwise cash in on his Beatles association.

After a series of jobs outside music (including work as a baker, and a civil servant), by 1988 Best had had a change of heart and eventually found a modicum of independent fame, writing about his time with the Beatles, giving interviews to the media, and touring as leader of The Pete Best Band. When the surviving Beatles released Anthology in 1995, which featured a number of tracks with Best as drummer, Best received a substantial windfall from the sales. (Some claim it was at least £2 million.) He also appeared later in a television special, also titled Best of the Beatles, telling his life story.

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