57 Years Ago Today: Legendary Rock Band's Banned Song Hits No. 1

On this day 57 years ago, a song by the Beatles, that was only produced by two of the members, reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom while being banned in some radio stations in the United States.

The Ballad of John and Yoko was coordinated by John Lennon and Paul McCartney while George Harrison was abroad and Ringo Starr was busy filming The Magic Christian.

Starr didn't mind not being part of the song, though.

"The Ballad Of John And Yoko only had Paul – of the other Beatles – on it but that was OK. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? was just Paul and me, and it went out as a Beatle track too. We had no problems with that. There's good drums on The Ballad Of John And Yoko, too," he said.

'The Ballad of John and Yoko' Was Banned on Some Stations

In 1966, John Lennon had made a controversial comment in which he famously claimed that The Beatles were "bigger than Jesus". He doubled down in a chorus on the No. 1 hit by singing, "Christ, you know it ain't easy, you know how hard it can be. The way things are going, they're gonna crucify me."

In order to preempt any hysteria around the song, Lennon wrote in a memo to press agent Tony Bramwell, "No pre-publicity on Ballad Of John & Yoko especially the ‘Christ' bit – so don't play it round too much or you'll frighten people – get it pressed first."

Despite his efforts, the song was banned by radio stations in the US and in the UK, with many of the stations that didn't ban it outright bleeping out the word ‘Christ', according to Far Out Magazine.

"It was very romantic. It's all in the song, ‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko', if you want to know how it happened, it's in there. Gibraltar was like a little sunny dream. I couldn't find a white suit – I had sort if off-white corduroy trousers and a white jacket. Yoko had all white on," Lennon told Rolling Stone.

The song peaked at No. 8 on the United States charts, despite being banned by some radio stations.

Related: 1976 Rock Hit Named Among Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time - And It Still Rocks

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 5:20 AM.