Beatles fans gather for London party

August 11, 2009

Hundreds of Beatles fans gathered for a party on Abbey Road on Saturday to mark the 40th anniversary of when the zebra crossing shot from the band's Abbey Road album cover was taken.

On August 8 1969, The Beatles walked across a zebra crossing in St John's Wood, north London, to be photographed for the cover of their classic album Abbey Road. As an anniversary celebration, fans made their way across the same zebra crossing at 11.35am on Saturday – exactly 40 years to the minute since The Beatles did it.

Traffic was thrown into chaos when fans of the Fab Four crowded around the famous zebra crossing to sing Beatles songs.

The zebra crossing, which is located outside the St John's Wood studios where the band recorded their albums, was then featured in a reconstruction photograph. Four Beatles lookalikes posed in the same positions that Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Star and George Harrison had taken for the album’s cover 40 years ago.

After that, a replica of John Lennon's colourful "psychedelic" Rolls Royce was driven over the crossing. Motorists may not have reacted to the scene with much pleasure, but The Beatles’ ex-road manager Tony Bramwell expressed approval, saying, "It's great. The Beatles are still No 1."