Let It Be

Let It Be is the 12th and final studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 8 May 1970, almost a month after the group's break-up. Like most of the band's previous releases, it was a number one album in many countries, including both the US and the UK, and was released in tandem with the motion picture of the same name.

The album was conceived as Get Back, a return to the Beatles' earlier, less complicated approach to music. It was recorded and projected for release before their album Abbey Road (1969). For this reason, some critics and fans, such as Mark Lewisohn, argue that Abbey Road should be considered the group's final album and Let It Be the penultimate. The recording sessions began at Twickenham Film Studios in January 1969 as part of a planned documentary showing the Beatles preparing to return to live performance. A project instigated by Paul McCartney, the filmed rehearsals were marked by ill-feeling within the band, leading to George Harrison's temporary departure from the group. As a condition of his return, the Beatles reconvened at their own Apple Studio, where they completed the recordings with the help of guest musician Billy Preston.

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential act of the rock era. Rooted in skiffle, beat, and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several genres, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements in innovative ways. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as "Beatlemania", but as the group's music grew in sophistication, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, they came to be perceived as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the counterculture of the 1960s.

The Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, most notably Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act and producer George Martin enhanced their musical potential. They gained popularity in the United Kingdom after their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. They acquired the nickname "the Fab Four" as Beatlemania grew in Britain over the following year, and by early 1964 they had become international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United States pop market. From 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced what many consider their finest material, including the innovative and widely influential albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (commonly known as the White Album, 1968) and Abbey Road (1969).

Mary (mother of Jesus)

According to the New Testament, Mary (Miriam: Hebrew: מרים‎; c. 18 BC – c. 43 AD), also known as Saint Mary, the Virgin Mary, or the Blessed Virgin Mary—amongst other titles, styles and honorifics—was a Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus.

The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament describe Mary as a virgin (Greek: παρθένος, parthénos) and Christians believe that she conceived her son while a virgin by the Holy Spirit. This took place when she was already betrothed to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. According to ancient Jewish custom, Mary could have been betrothed at about 12, however, there is no direct evidence of Mary's age at betrothal or in pregnancy. The term "betrothal" is an awkward translation of kiddushin; according to the Jewish law those called "betrothed" were actually husband and wife.

The Gospel of Luke begins its account of Mary's life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. According to gospel accounts, Mary was present at the Crucifixion of Jesus and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to Apocryphal writings, at some time soon after her death, her incorrupt body was assumed directly into Heaven, to be reunited with her soul, and the apostles thereupon found the tomb empty; this is known in Christian teaching as the Assumption.