Talk:Fifth Beatle

What about Yoko Ono?

--82.139.5.13 (talk) 15:49, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Do you have a reliable source that referred to her as a "Fifth Beatle"? GoingBatty (talk) 17:33, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

I think Yoko Ono is conspicuous by her absence even if she's mentioned only to rule her out. I suggest this addition:

"One who was not: Yoko Ono's name comes up in many discussions of the Fifth Beatle but there don't seem to be any reliable sources naming her as the Fifth Beatle. She did appear on some Beatles songs. Paul McCartney said in an 2012 interview that John Lennon had wanted to give her some kind of role in the band, but the rest of the band rejected it. (Citation: https://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=83757&cat=)" If figure y'all have considered Yoko Ono before. Does anyone object to me making this addition? Widerquist (talk) 10:03, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

If we list everyone who is not a fifth Beatle, the list could be huge. It's pointless. Sundayclose (talk) 13:56, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

For example, Yoko did contributions to some Beatles songs such as Revolution 9 or Birthday where she did backing vocals or The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill where she sang one line of lead vocals. Of course, she was also important figure in the history of The Beatles --82.139.5.13 (talk) 10:31, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

There were dozens of people who made small contributions to Beatles music or were vaguely connected to the Beatles. We don't include all of them, especially without a solid source to back it up. Sundayclose (talk) 13:56, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

Sources

This article is supposed to include people who have been called "the Fifth Beatle" either by themselves or by reliable sources, not random associates of the band some random user thinks should be called the Fifth Beatle. I already removed Joe Flannery, who was (supposedly) called "the Secret Beatle". Where and by whom has Pete Shotton been called the Fifth Beatle? Jah77 (talk) 11:39, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

@Jah77: Good point. I removed it. Thanks for pointing this out. Sundayclose (talk) 19:25, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

Yet you also restored Flannery. "Secret Beatle" is not the same as "Fifth Beatle"; if any epithet that includes the word "Beatle" counts, the list of people will get out of hand again. Plus the sourcing is rather poor - one newspaper obituary that claims he was called a "Secret Beatle" without actually specifying who called him that. (I'd certainly never heard of him before.) Quite tenuous, I'd say, especially given that Flannery hasn't even been considered notable enough to have his own article. Jah77 (talk) 22:07, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

Klaus Voormann

The story that Klaus played bass with The Beatles after Stuart left is almost certainly apocryphal. Klaus said in an interview (https://www.beatlesstory.com/blog/2018/09/04/interview-klaus-voormann-it-started-in-hamburg/) that before he was asked to join The Eyes in 1964 he'd never played bass. Tony Keen2 (talk) 11:27, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

Frank Ifield

I just discovered this article. It seems to me that Frank may be a candidate. Is there a reason he doesn't count? I see that a quick search returns a decent number of hits, but admittedly I'm yet to find one that actually describes him as the fifth Beatle or a candidate for the title. Maybe some will come up in the aftermath of his passing.... — Smjg (talk) 09:07, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

Paul is dead

Have any (sincere or ironic) supporters of the "Paul is dead" myth suggested that the fake Paul was ipso facto the Fifth Beatle? jnestorius^(talk) 17:20, 16 May 2025 (UTC)

I'm not sure that there is such a thing as an "ironic" supporter ("ironic" is one of the most misunderstood words in the English language, being misused by many well known writers and even poets, such as Alanis Morissette), but there were numerous fictional people said to be the fake Paul, none of whom with enough fame and credibility as the real people discussed in the article. And I'm not sure what an "ipso facto" fifth Beatle is; look up ipso facto. And finally, are there any people who still believe Paul is dead? If there are, tell me who they are. I have some cheap beachfront property in Arizona to sell them. Sundayclose (talk) 18:09, 16 May 2025 (UTC)

I suspect you actually understood my question, even if you think "ironic" and "ipso facto" were not the correct terms. If, say, Fred LaBour's 1969 article included a statement such as "Paul is dead; that makes fake Paul the Fifth Beatle!" it is my contention that that fact would be worth mentioning in this article. Feel free to disagree with that contention, or to respond "I know of no noteworthy source to have made such a statement". jnestorius^(talk) 12:28, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

I now understand based on your second post. But, no, I did not fully understand your first post because of the awkward wording. And, no offense, I'll respond in whatever way I think is appropriate and not according to someone's multiple choice options. But thanks for raising the issue. My opinion is that it isn't notable enough to be in the article. I doubt that many people think fake Paul is the Fifth Beatle. Sundayclose (talk) 00:04, 20 May 2025 (UTC)