Tag Archives: Our World Broadcast

Global Beatles Day 2026

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Global Beatles Day this year seems – for the first time – to have been officially taken under the wing of the Beatles’ company, Apple. The official page is giving it a big push in the lead-up to 25 June.

The day was first established back in 2009 by Faith Cohen, an American fan from Indianapolis, as a grassroots initiative through social media. The date was selected to mark the anniversary of the band’s 1967 performance of ‘All You Need Is Love’, which was broadcast live via satellite as part of the BBC’s then groundbreaking Our World program.

Now it has the imprimatur of Apple it definitely looks to become a bigger and ongoing thing in the yearly calendar of events.

The official Beatle page has launched a countdown and have been emailing subscribers with reminders and a whole list of ideas to help you get in the mood and celebrate, including what might be the premiere (on 26 June, 2026) of a newly-remastered video of that ‘All You Need Is Love’ performance – done live for the Our World broadcast. It went out to over 400 million people across 26 countries and was part of a first-ever live global satellite TV event.

Filmed at Abbey Road Studios, the band does live vocals over a pre-recorded backing track. In the broadcast we get to see George Martin in the control room co-ordinating the whole thing – don’t know if this will be included if there’s a newly remastered or colourised version of the video. The original was, of course, good old black and white TV!

The band is in the studio, surrounded by some of their mates including Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Keith Moon, and Marianne Faithful, and the performance stands as one of the defining cultural moments of 1967 — a message of hope and unity broadcast across the globe. The YouTube holding page for the premiere is here.

So, on Global Beatles Day why not check out the video, dig out a few records or CDs and immerse yourself in the music one more time – and think about the phenomenon that is The Beatles, somehow rolling on and on, from one generation to another.

Rare, Vintage and Signed Beatle Photo Book on Offer

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Following our article about the new David Magnus exhibition which has just opened in London, we received an email from his wife Janice with some further interesting news:

Hallo,

You will have all seen in the press over the last week the very exciting news that photographer David Magnus has opened his first exclusive Beatles Unseen Exhibition at Proud Galleries in The Kings Road Chelsea in London. To view the photographs go to www.proudonline.co.uk.

The exhibition by David celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the live recording of The Beatles song ‘All You Need Is Love’. This was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios in London over the weekend of the 24th and 25th June 1967. This unique recording was the UK’s contribution to a special worldwide satellite broadcast put together by the BBC called Our World and included 14 other countries, the programme was seen by over 400 million people worldwide. More information on this can be found on Davids Website davidmagnus.com

In 1997 a book called All You Need Is Love The Beatles Dress Rehearsal was published by Tracks Ltd with some of the photographs taken by David at Abbey Road Studios over that weekend. David has a number of limited editions of this very rare and unique book for sale at a cost of £195 which includes postage within the UK or for overseas sales it is plus postage. Your book will be personalised for you or your readers with their name and the date, and can also include a personalised notation specially for you.  
 
If you would like any further information about David’s book and photographs please see his website at davidmagnus.com  

Any queries please do contact me at david@davidmagnus.com

Warmest good wishes

Janice Magnus

Also, here’s an article from a British photography magazine about the exhibition’s official opening, including a photo of David and his wife Janice.

And if you’d like to see a few more of the amazing David Magnus images from the Beatles Unseen Exhibition then click here.

The Beatles Unseen: Photographs by David Magnus – An Exhibition

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If you’re a Beatle fan and are anywhere near London between March 16th and May 14th this year it would be well worth visiting the Proud Chelsea gallery.

The gallery (at 161 Kings Road, London) is presenting what looks to be a terrific new exhibition called The Beatles Unseen: Photographs by David Magnus.

The exhibition features many previously unseen photographs and provides a fascinating and deeply candid insight into the band during what would become a landmark occasion at the famous EMI Studio 1 in Abbey Road: The Beatles were about to perform live for the historic Our World program, broadcast to a world-wide television audience of millions.

Photographer David Magnus had a close relationship with the band dating back to 1963 when, at the age of 19, he was invited to photograph a then relatively unknown band during a concert at Stowe School. This early work with the group allowed Magnus unprecedented access throughout their subsequent rise to fame, and he gradually built up a portfolio of many rare and unique images. That, and a friendship with their publicist, Tony Barrow, got him exclusive access to document a pivotal moment in their career 50 years ago. On the weekend of the 24th and 25th of June 1967, The Beatles performed and recorded their song ‘All You Need is Love’ during a live broadcast for the BBC’s Our World program, the world’s first live, international, satellite television production, reaching over 400 million people around the globe.

Magnus documented rare, behind-the-scenes footage of the historical event, including wonderfully frank photographs of the band relaxing backstage away from the recording studio:

George and John grabbing a cup of tea during a break from rehearsals,1967. (Image courtesy of Proud Galleries © David Magnus)

The Beatles in the EMI Canteen under the watchful eye of one of the EMI commissionaires, 1967. (Image courtesy of Proud Galleries © David Magnus)

Speaking of the intensity of the band’s influence during that time, Magnus said, ‘As I came from the EMI canteen, one of the female studio staff stopped me, put a hand on my shoulder and said to me, “I must touch you as you’ve been in the same room as The Beatles.” It was as if I carried an aura from the Beatles. This to me sums up Beatlemania.’

The Beatles wanted the studio to have a real party atmosphere, and the band were all dressed in colourful clothes and were surrounded by flowers, balloons and placards. To further add to the atmosphere The Beatles invited a number of their friends to attend including Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Keith Moon, Marianne Faithful, Eric Clapton, Jane Asher, Patti Boyd and Graham Nash – and Beatle manager, Brian Epstein. The images of him in this exhibition are the last ever photographs of Epstein with The Beatles as he died shortly afterwards.One of the last photographs of Brian Epstein with The Beatles before his untimely death just weeks later, 1967. (Image courtesy of Proud Galleries © David Magnus)

This collection is a captivating archive of an event that was not only a first for The Beatles but a first for the era of television, which ignited a social revolution and created the universal anthem of its era.The Beatles Unseen: Photographs by David Magnus, Proud Chelsea, 16th March – 14th May 2017, www.proud.co.uk