Paul McCartney announces first official Beatles museum in London on site of band’s last rooftop performance

The Beatles on the roof of the Apple Corps offices in Saville Row, which is becoming an official Beatles museum. Photo / Apple Corps

The Beatles’ first official London museum is set to open next year in the Mayfair building where the band recorded its final album and played its last gig, Paul McCartney announced today.

The attraction - The Beatles At 3 Savile Row - will feature seven floors of never-seen-before archive material and a recreated basement studio where the band recorded songs for their 1970 Let It Be album.

Visitors to the venue on the upmarket central London block - better known globally for its traditional bespoke tailors - will also get access to its rooftop where the band staged an iconic performance in 1969.

McCartney told the BBC: “Tourists come to England and they can go to [recording studio] Abbey Road, but they can’t go inside ... so I thought this was a terrific idea”.

The 83-year-old said it stemmed from efforts by Apple Corps - the company which has overseen the band’s business interests since 1968 - to re-examine “what the Beatles mean, and what people want these days from us”.

The company previously owned the Savile Row building for eight years from 1968 and it served as the band’s headquarters for two years before their 1970 break-up and for business purposes afterwards.

Chief executive Tom Greene said in a statement: “We’re thrilled to bring Apple Corps back to its spiritual home and give The Beatles fans something truly special. Every single day, fans are taking pictures of the outside of 3 Savile Row.

“But next year they can go in and explore all seven floors of the iconic building, including the rooftop where even the railings remain the same from that famous day in 1969.”

Footage of the January 30, 1969, concert was recently restored and included in Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary about the band.

Speaking to the BBC, McCartney said visitors will ascend the Savile Row building and see “various things” including memorabilia before they can “pretend to be a Beatle” on the roof.

It will also feature rotating exhibitions and a fan store, according to Apple Corps.

Ringo Starr, 85, the only other living Beatle, called the exhibition “like coming home”.

Apple Corps promised further details about it, and a second experience currently in development, in “due course”.

Fans can register for tickets on the band’s website.

The Beatles’ hometown of Liverpool boasts two attractions - the Liverpool Beatles Museum and the Beatles Story - but neither are officially licensed by Apple Corps.

- AFP