The Beatles' White Album, Created Amid Bitter Band Tension, Became a No. 1 Hit
On May 30, 1968, The Beatles began work on their highly anticipated ninth studio album, The Beatles. The record, which became known as the "White Album" to avoid confusion with the band's name, was a surprise double album that contained some of the Beatles' most experimental and unfamiliar work to date.
The album was a direct result of the band's recent trip to India, where they studied Transcendental Meditation after publicly denouncing drugs and adopting a new lifestyle. The retreat was suggested by George Harrison, but it ended up being an extremely creative and eye-opening trip for them all.
Each member of the Beatles returned with several new songs-hence the album's unprecedented length. The recording sessions should have been a period of regrowth for the band, which had been under immense strain in recent years due to growing tensions between the members. Instead, they ended up pushing the Beatles even further apart.
Eighteen of the songs on The Beatles were written during the Indian retreat, which meant they were almost fully formed by the time they got together to record them in 1968. This created a very different atmosphere for John Lennon and Paul McCartney in particular, who generally wrote their songs together through an extensive period of collaboration. Instead, each member was already beginning to develop their own sound, and they were becoming less receptive to feedback.
"There was a lot of friction during that album. We were just about to break up, and that was tense in itself," Paul McCartney once said. This was also the first time John Lennon brought his new partner, Yoko Ono, to the sessions. Her presence has since been cited as a contributing factor to the band's eventual breakup.
Lennon's prioritisation of Ono over his bandmates caused even more friction, and the band was increasingly growing unable to work with one another. This is why so many of the songs on The Beatles sound so noticeably different-it was very rare for all four Beatles to be playing together during these sessions, and they were largely stitched together in post.
Despite the turbulent production, The Beatles was an enormous commercial success upon release. Despite many critics' attempts to bring it down by critiquing the excessive length and inconsistent tone, the record shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped charts in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and all across the world.
The album is now considered one of the Beatles' best, and many experts have pointed out how the increasingly strained relationship between Lennon and McCartney actually resulted in some of their boldest, most challenging work. The band would not have achieved their true potential without some conflict, and The Beatles proves that.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
2026 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 9:56 AM.