1998
Jan. 19: Carl Perkins dies at age 65 after a series of strokes. George Harrison attends his funeral and a tape exists of him performing "Your True Love."
April 17: Linda McCartney dies after long bout with breast cancer at age of 56. The first news stories reported she died in Santa Barbara, but it was later revealed she had died at the family's home in Tucson, Ariz. The circumstances leading to the change in the story caused Santa Barbara police to open an investigation into Linda's death, but this was later dropped when it was clear she had died in Arizona. Paul later scattered her ashes at the family's Scotland farm. In a statement, Paul said, "This is a total heartbreak for my family and I. Linda was, and still is, the love of my life, and the past two years we spent battling her disease have been a nightmare. She never complained and always hoped to be able to conquer it. It was not to be." Two memorial services were later held in London and New York for friends and family members. Ringo Starr and George Harrison attended the London service. Yoko Ono was not invited to attend the New York service, but later donated $100,000 in Linda's name to Victim Services, an organization that helps battered women and children.
May 6: A gaunt-looking George Harrison testifies in a suit filed by the Beatles against Lingasong Music over tapes of a performance by the Beatles in Hamburg, Germany in 1962.
May 8: The Beatles finally win a court suit to stop distribution of a CD of the Hamburg Star Club tapes, which had been available throughout the world since 1977 in legitimate releases. (They were unsuccessful in previous attempts to stop the tapes.) A British High Court ordered Lingasong Music to surrender all copies of the original recording of the Beatles performing in Germany more than 36 years prior, before the Beatles became famous. Edward Taylor of King Size Taylor and the Dominoes, who performed with the Beatles at Hamburg's Star Club in 1962, told the court he had spoken to John Lennon about what to do with the recording in the dressing room afterward and Lennon told him he could do whatever he wanted with it. The judge found that no consent had been given at the time for the recording to be made, nor for its commercial release since. The brief trial featured an in-court appearance by George Harrison, who testified the tape was the "crummiest" he'd ever heard and that "Whatever he says, we didn't see [the recordings]. We didn't ask him to do it, we never heard them, we never had anything to do with them - and that's the story." Even if Taylor's story about talking to Lennon was true, Harrison said, "one drunken person recording another bunch of drunks does not constitute a business deal."
Late June: George Harrison discloses that rumors about him being treated for cancer were indeed true, but "I'm not going to die on you folks just yet. I am very lucky,'' Harrison told the British tabloid the News of the World. He'd had surgery in August, 1997, to remove a lump in his throat, which was found to be cancerous, though that was denied at the time. It was followed by two courses of of radiation therapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital, Britain's leading cancer treatment center. He later went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for tests and was told that the cancer had not returned. ``I went back and was given the final all-clear — a clean bill of health,'' he said.
June: Ringo releases a new album, "Vertical Man," a fine effort featuring session work by George Harrison and Paul McCartney. A video of the song "La De Da" includes a cameo by teen sensations Hanson, Ringo's fellow labelmates.
July: A group of former Quarrymen tour the U.S. as John Lennon's Original Quarrymen. In concert, Pete Shotton, Rod Davis, Len Garry, Eric Griffiths, and Colin Hanton performed such songs as "Twenty Flight Rock" (which Paul sang for John the day they met), "That's All Right Mama," "All Shook Up" and the McCartney-Harrison song "In Spite of All The Danger," which had been released on the Beatles "Anthology 1."
October: An album of Linda McCartney songs, "Wide Prairie," is released. Paul McCartney says the album, which spanned 25 years of Linda's songs, was the culmination of a project Linda began before her death. A bootleg of Linda McCartney songs, "Appaloosa Love," released before "Wide Prairie," reportedly angers McCartney.
Nov. 3: "The John Lennon Anthology," a four CD boxed set with previously unreleased tracks, is released. The set was assembled by Yoko Ono, with help from Sean Lennon. In a press release, Yoko said, "The tracks on this set aren't all alternate takes or demos for songs that he included on his albums, but most of them are. There are some real rarities, of course, but I didn't want to just titillate people's curiosity. After all, those are the songs that John wanted to put out - and that's something I gave a lot of weight to. I wanted to deepen people's understanding of those songs, because they're the ones John wanted you to know. I put a special emphasis on that. I hope that people see his train of thought - and how that train of thought influenced the world."
Dec. 26: After years of delays and other reasons, the Beatles finally get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star was reinstated on Christmas morning at the behest of Hollywood's honorary "mayor," Johnny Grant. "It was done in the spirit of giving," Grant said. "Santa and I thought it was time to respond to the Beatles fans' request for a chance to honor the Fab Four." The Beatles received a star in 1994, but the star was removed a few weeks later at the request of Capitol Records, who said a ceremony should be held with a band member present. The three surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, didn't want to appear, so Grant finally decided to put the star in anyway. "The star has been in my office for a long time," he said. The star is located next to Elvis Presley's at the gateway to Hollywood Boulevard.