Did All Four Beatles Smoke Cigarettes?

Much has been made of Bob Dylan introducing the Beatles to the wonders of marijuana on August 28, 1964. After experiencing the mind-opening effects of THC, Paul said that he was “thinking for the first time, really thinking.”

Some say that after the Beatles got high for the first time, music changed forever.

While it’s interesting to consider the effect that mind-expanding drugs had on the Beatles and their music, a different sort of substance played a much more consistent and long-term role in their lives: nicotine.

All four Beatles were heavy smokers.

Cigarette addiction is unique in that it doesn’t completely take over a person’s life. You can carry on with your work and lifestyle, take up and quit other substances, and keep smoking all the while. So it was for the Beatles.

Smoking may be a manageable habit, but the grip of the addiction is brutally strong. Most smokers won’t truly quit until they make a massive personal commitment to change. Even after quitting, the mental and physical effects of cigarettes may continue to form a haunting presence.

During their years together, the Beatles were constantly lighting up. There’s no shortage of photos and video clips that show all four members with cigarettes in their hands and mouths. They even used “Everest” as a working title for what would become the Abbey Road album, named after a brand smoked by one of their sound engineers.

The Beatles took up smoking long before the anti-smoking movement opened the public’s eyes to the health hazards of tobacco. Back then, cigarettes were everywhere, providing stigma-free dopamine boosts.

Here’s what we know about each Beatle’s relationship with cigarettes.

John

John was the only Beatle who never quit smoking.

Shortly before his death, in a 1980 Playboy interview, John indicated that he wasn’t too worried about cigarettes harming his health. He called himself a “macrobiotic,” referring to the macrobiotic fad diet that was based on a yin/yang approach to eating.

“Macrobiotic people don’t believe in the big C. Whether you take that as a rationalization or not, macrobiotics don’t believe that smoking is bad for you. Of course, if we die, we’re wrong.”

I don’t believe John was speaking literally when he said that he didn’t believe in cancer.

Following up on this quote led me down a bit of a John Lennon quote rabbit hole, and I’m compelled to share this one, from his 1980 Rolling Stone interview. This was his last interview, conducted just three days before his death.

"People spend a lot of time trying to be somebody else, and I think it leads to terrible diseases. Maybe you get cancer or something. A lot of tough guys die of cancer, have you noticed? John Wayne, Steve McQueen. I think it has something to do — I don’t know, I’m no expert — with constantly living or getting trapped in an image or an illusion of themselves, suppressing some part of themselves, whether it’s the feminine side or the fearful side.

…I spent the whole of my childhood with shoulders up around the top of me head and me glasses off because glasses were sissy, and walking in complete fear, but with the toughest-looking face you’ve ever seen… It took a lot of wrestling to stop doing that, even though I still fall into it when I get insecure and nervous. I still drop into that I’m-a-street-kid stance, but I have to keep remembering that I never really was one."

John probably associated cigarette smoking with both his tough-guy persona and his sensitive artistic side. In all likelihood, he would have eventually tried to quit, but his unique worldview and his demons may have gotten in the way.

Paul

Paul has enjoyed healthy senior years thanks to a commitment to healthy habits. He’s been a vegetarian since the 1970s and regularly practices both meditation and physical exercise. Apparently, he can even do a headstand.

Before his lifestyle changes, Paul was a heavy smoker. In 1973, while recording Band on the Run with Wings, Paul struggled to breathe while laying down a vocal track. He stepped outside for fresh air and promptly collapsed. It was a bronchial spasm — caused by excessive smoking.

By the early 80s, Paul had mostly given up smoking for good.

George

In 1997, George found a lump on his neck. It was throat cancer.

He said:

“I got it purely from smoking. I gave up cigarettes many years ago, but had started again for a while and then stopped in 1997.”

Cancer eventually ended George’s life in 2001.

George probably worked hard to quit smoking, but it was too late.

Cigarette-related deaths are agonizing both physically and mentally, with the dying individual knowing exactly which habit led to their fatal illness.

Thankfully, by all reports, George died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. His family released this statement:

“He left this world as he lived in it, conscious of God, fearless of death, and at peace, surrounded by family and friends. He often said, ‘Everything else can wait but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.’”

Ringo

In 2017, Ringo tweeted:

“I haven’t had a cigarette since January 1990 and I feel good peace and love peace and love.”

Ringo has always stayed busy, releasing 20 albums throughout his career and staying somewhat in the public eye–but not excessively so. By all appearances, he’s happy, healthy, and a non-smoker.