More popular than Jesus

Some radio stations stopped playing Beatles songs, records were publicly burned, press conferences were cancelled, and the Ku Klux Klan picketed concerts.

[9] Among Lennon's many possessions, Cleave found a full-sized crucifix, a gorilla costume, a medieval suit of armour[10] and a well-organised library with works by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.

[4][12]Cleave's interview with Lennon was published in The Evening Standard on 4 March under the secondary heading "On a hill in Surrey ... A young man, famous, loaded, and waiting for something".

"[20] According to author Steve Turner, the British satirical magazine Private Eye responded to Lennon's comments by featuring a cartoon by Gerald Scarfe that showed him "dressed in heavenly robes and playing a cross-shaped guitar with a halo made out of a vinyl LP".

[21][nb 2] Newsweek made reference to Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" comments in an issue published in March,[22] and the interview had appeared in Detroit magazine in May.

[26][27] Datebook published the Lennon and McCartney interviews on 29 July,[28] in its September "Shout-Out" issue dedicated to controversial youth-orientated themes including recreational drugs, sex, long hair and the Vietnam War.

"[30][31] In author Robert Rodriguez's description, the editor had chosen Lennon's "most damning comment" for maximum effect;[32] placed above it on the cover was a quote from McCartney regarding America: "It's a lousy country where anyone black is a dirty nigger!

[45] KCBN in Reno, Nevada, broadcast hourly editorials condemning the Beatles and announced a public bonfire for 6 August where the band's albums would be burned.

[46] Several Southern stations organised demonstrations with bonfires,[44] drawing crowds of teenagers to publicly burn their Beatles records, effigies of the band, and other memorabilia.

[49] It followed soon after the negative reaction from American disc jockeys and retailers to the "butcher" sleeve photo used on the Beatles' US-only LP Yesterday and Today.

[50] For some conservatives in the American South, according to Rodriguez, Lennon's comments on Christ now allowed them an opportunity to act on their grievances against the Beatles: namely, their long hair and championing of African-American musicians.

[52] He flew to New York on 4 August and held a press conference the following day[53] in which he claimed that Datebook had taken Lennon's words out of context, and expressed regret on behalf of the group that "people with certain religious beliefs should have been offended in any way".

"[55] This international disapproval was reflected in the share price of the Beatles' Northern Songs publishing company, which dropped by the equivalent of 28 cents on the London Stock Exchange.

[56][57] In response to the furore in the US, a Melody Maker editorial stated that the "fantastically unreasoned reaction" supported Lennon's statement regarding Christ's disciples being "thick and ordinary".

"[41] The reaction was also criticised by some within the US; a Kentucky radio station announced that it would give the Beatles music airplay to show its "contempt for hypocrisy personified", and the Jesuit magazine America wrote that "Lennon was simply stating what many a Christian educator would readily admit.

[66][67] The Vatican's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano announced that the apology was sufficient, while a New York Times editorial similarly stated that the matter was over, but added, "The wonder is that such an articulate young man could have expressed himself imprecisely in the first place.

[70] On 13 August, when the band played in Detroit, images were published of South Carolina Ku Klux Klan members "crucifying" a Beatles record on a large wooden cross, which they then ceremoniously burned.

[75] Two concerts took place there at the Mid-South Coliseum on 19 August,[76] although the city council had voted to cancel them rather than have "municipal facilities be used as a forum to ridicule anyone's religion",[77] adding that "the Beatles are not welcome in Memphis".

[78] An ITN news team sent from London to cover the controversy for the program Reporting '66 held interviews with Charles[79] and with teenagers in Birmingham, many of whom were critical of the Beatles.

[75] ITN reporter Richard Lindley also interviewed Robert Shelton, the Ku Klux Klan's Imperial Wizard, who condemned the band as "communists" for supporting civil rights.

[80] Coinciding with the band's visit to Memphis, local preacher Jimmy Stroad held a Christian rally[74] to "give the youth of the mid-South an opportunity to show Jesus Christ is more popular than the Beatles".

Aloof from the holy war, a young man stood on the street corner, solemnly holding up a sign that read "John Is A Lesbian.

[89] The Beatles hated the tour, partly due to the controversy and adverse reaction to Lennon's comments, and they were unhappy about Epstein continuing to organise live performances that were increasingly at odds with their studio work.

[93] In 1993, Michael Medved wrote in The Sunday Times that "today, comments like Lennon's could never cause controversy; a contemptuous attitude to religion is all but expected from all mainstream pop performers.

[40] Lennon's comments continued to be the subject of scrutiny in right-wing religious literature, particularly in the writing of David A. Noebel,[96] a longstanding critic of the Beatles' influence on American youth.

[102] In 2015, Philippine Star contributor Edgar O. Cruz said that Lennon's statement proved to be at least half wrong, reporting that "rock 'n roll is dead but Christianity expanded with Catholicism experiencing exceptional growth through Pope Francis' lead".

[103] Former Beatles press officer Derek Taylor referred to the controversy in a late 1966 article for the Los Angeles Times West: "I'm seriously worried about someone with a rifle.

[108][109] In May 1969, the band released "The Ballad of John and Yoko" as a single, with Lennon singing the lines, "Christ, you know it ain't easy, you know how hard it can be / The way things are going, they're gonna crucify me.

[120] In April 2010, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano published an article marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' self-titled album which included comments on Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" remark.

Part of the response read: "The remark ... which triggered deep indignation, mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll.