The Fab Four is a

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

-based

tribute band A tribute act, tribute band or tribute group is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist, such as ...

paying homage to

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. Founded in 1997 by Ron McNeil, a

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

impersonator, the group began performing Beatles music throughout southern California. They have played in many places worldwide, including

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

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and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, covering nearly the entire Beatles songbook and material from Beatles members' solo projects. The band's beginnings included Tuesday night performances at a small venue called Music City in Fountain Valley, as well as regular performances at

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...

's Tomorrowland Terrace in Anaheim, The Hop in Puente Hills and Scruffy O’Sheas in

Marina del Rey Marina del Rey (Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the greater Los Angeles area. The ...

. The core group consisted of McNeil (

), along with Ardy Sarraf (

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

), Michael Amador (

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

) and Rolo Sandoval (

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

). From 2005 to 2008, The Fab Four brought in a second cast of musicians to help perform a full stage show six nights a week in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

, with various members alternating between cast. Performing as Fab Four Mania, the Vegas cast performed regularly at locations such as the

Las Vegas Hilton The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a hotel, casino, and timeshare resort in Winchester, Nevada. Located near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, it is owned by Westgate Resorts. It opened in 1969 as the International Hotel, and wa ...

The Aladdin Planet Hollywood Las Vegas (formerly the Aladdin) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The property was previously the site of an earlier resort known as the Aladdin, w ...

, The Sahara and The Riviera. In 2013, the Fab Four received an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Award for their PBS special "The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute," filmed at

Pechanga Resort & Casino The Pechanga Resort Casino is a Native American casino on the Pechanga Indian Reservation adjacent to the city of Temecula, California. Pechanga Resort Casino is one of the largest casino/resorts in the United States, with more than 5,400 slot ...

in 2012. As of 2019, the most common lineup formerly consisted of Ardy Sarraf (McCartney), Adam Hastings (Lennon), Gavin Pring (Harrison) and Joe Bologna (Starr). As of 2020 & 2022, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, The Fab Four have been live streaming numerous concerts, with Ron McNeil, Rolo Sandoval and Erik Fidel coming back.

The cast

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

*Ron McNeil *Adam Hastings *Jon Fickes (stand-in)

Sir Paul McCartney ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

*Ardavan "Ardy" Sarraf *Neil Candelora (stand-in) *Joshua Jones (stand-in)

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

*Gavin Pring *Robbie Berg (stand-in) *Doug Couture (stand-in)

Sir Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr)

*Erik Fidel *Rolo Sandoval (stand-in) *Brendan Peleo-Lazar (stand-in) *Luis Renteria (stand-in) *Richard Lewis (stand in)

Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New Yor ...

*George Trullinger *Jeff DeHart (stand-in) *Jerry Hoban (passed away in 2015)

Side projects

Wingsband

Formed by Ardy Sarraf, Wingsband is a Paul McCartney and

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

tribute act that covers many of McCartney's biggest post-Beatles hits. The band features Ron McNeil as

Denny Laine Denny Laine (born Brian Frederick Hines, 29 October 1944) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, known as a founder of two major rock bands: the Moody Blues, with whom he played from 1964 to 1966, and Wings, with whom he played from 1 ...

, Michael Amador as Henry McCullough and Rolo Sandoval as Joe English, plus a horns section led by Wendell Kelly (

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recor ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

) and singer/songwriter Christine Rosander as

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

. Both Laurence Juber, Wings guitarist from 1978 to 1981, and

Denny Seiwell Denny Seiwell (born July 10, 1943) is an American drummer and a founding member of Wings. He also drummed for Billy Joel and Liza Minnelli and played in the scores for the films ''Waterworld'', '' Grease II'', and ''Vertical Limit''. His drum ...

, the original Wings drummer from 1971 to 1973, have performed onstage with Wingsband at The Grove in Anaheim, CA.

George Harry’s Son

George Harrison impersonator and Liverpool native, Gavin Pring, created a tribute act called George Harry's Son to celebrate Harrison's solo material, as well as his hits from the Beatle years. Pring has brought this act to the top Beatles

music festivals A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or hol ...

, including the annual Beatleweek in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

at the Mathew Street Festival and

Abbey Road on the River Abbey Road on the River (AROTR) is a five-day, multi-staged music festival which was initially created to honor the music and spirit of the Beatles. The festival took place in Louisville, Kentucky over Memorial Day weekend but moved across the Ohio ...

in the United States. Pring also performed on the same stage as Paul McCartney in 2002 for the tribute show held on Harrison's birthday.

Rutlemania

In 2007, The Fab Four was approached by

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broad ...

from the British comedy group

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fou ...

to perform a set of shows celebrating the 30th anniversary of

The Rutles The Rutles () were a rock band that performed visual and aural pastiches and parodies of the Beatles. This originally fictional band, created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes for a sketch in Idle's mid-1970s BBC television comedy series ''Rutland We ...

, a Beatles

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

group formed in 1975 by Idle and

Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the M ...

. The show featured McNeil as Ron Nasty (originally played by Innes), Sarraf as Dirk McQuickly (Idle), Amador as Stig O’Hara (

Ricky Fataar Ricky Fataar (born 5 September 1952) is a South African-English multi-instrumentalist of Cape Malay descent, who has performed as both a drummer and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in ''The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash'', a spoof on ...

) and Sandoval as Barry Wom ( John Halsey), and was performed multiple nights in both Los Angeles and New York.

''Yellow Submarine'' movie remake

In 2010, The Fab Four was cast to do the

motion-capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

performance footage for director

Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker. He first came to public attention as the director of the action-adventure romantic comedy '' Romancing the Stone'' (1984), the science-fiction comedy '' Back to the Future'' film ...

' 3-D remake of

animated film classic, '' Yellow Submarine''. The movie was set to be released sometime in 2012, but

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

canceled the project when Zemeckis' film ''

Mars Needs Moms ''Mars Needs Moms'' is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated science fiction film co-written and directed by Simon Wells, produced by ImageMovers Digital and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the Berkeley Breathed book of the same ti ...

'' performed poorly in the box office and critics' reviews of Zemeckis' animations were mostly negative.

Notable appearances

*Recorded Beatles tracks "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Please Please Me" and "Kansas City" that were featured in the

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudr ...

The Linda McCartney Story ''The Linda McCartney Story'' is a 2000 British-American drama television film directed by Armand Mastroianni, starring Elizabeth Mitchell and Gary Bakewell. Based on the book ''Linda McCartney: The Biography'', presenting the life story of Lind ...

'' in 2000. *Performed at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

in 2003 for the 37th anniversary of the Beatles’ concerts there. *Performed at the official DVD release party for the

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a lea ...

edition of '' A Hard Day’s Night'' at the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at Ha ...

in 2004. *Featured as a headlining act during

’s annual Beatleweek in 2004, 2008 and 2011. *Held nightly shows at many venues in Las Vegas from 2005 to 2008, including the Las Vegas Hilton, The Aladdin, The Sahara and The Riviera. *Featured on many TV shows and channels, including ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. ET also airs in Aus ...

'', ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

'',

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...

and

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

’ '' Really Big Show'' in 2007. *Had their version of "The Little Drummer Boy" played on the show '' House M.D.'' in the 2008 episode "It's A Wonderful Lie." *Performed the motion capture for the

Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...

video game '' The Beatles: Rock Band'' in 2009. *Featured in their own PBS special, filmed at

in January 2012. *Performed at an unveiling of

Madame Tussaud's Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...

Beatles

wax figure A wax sculpture is a depiction made using a waxy substance. Often these are effigies, usually of a notable individual, but there are also death masks and scenes with many figures, mostly in relief. The properties of beeswax make it an excell ...

s, when the figures were brought to Las Vegas from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for a short exhibit in 2012. *Performed the '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band'' album in its entirety on ''The World's Greatest Tribute Bands'' on

AXS TV AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat spor ...

, recorded live at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boule ...

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...

in May 2017. *Featured as guests and performers several times on the weekly

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

Breakfast with the Beatles ''Breakfast with the Beatles'' is a popular programming segment format on FM radio in cities in the United States. The segment format typically features one or more hours of programing consisting exclusively of music by or related to The Beatles ...

'', hosted by Chris Carter. *Have played at the Le Palais Des Sports in Paris, where the Beatles once performed. *Performed for many celebrities, including

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...

from

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

, Mark Hudson (Ringo Starr producer) and

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

. *Performed alongside

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the pop- rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and multiple reunion ...

, (

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...

) and

Mark Lindsay Mark Lindsay (born March 9, 1942) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders. Early life Lindsay was born in Eugene, Oregon, and was the second of eight children of George and Esther Ellis Lindsay. The ...

(

Paul Revere & the Raiders Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revol ...

). *Named the official Beatles tribute band of radio station K-earth 101.

Discography

*Adam Hastings – Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Harmonica *Ardy Sarraf – Vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Guitar *Gavin Pring – Vocals, Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Sitar *Joseph Bologna – Vocals, Drums, Percussion All songs were

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

, performed, recorded and produced by The Fab Four.

''A Fab Four Christmas''

Release Date - October 16, 2002
Label - Delta Ent. (LaserLight)

''Have Yourself a FAB-ulous Little Christmas''

Release Date - October 16, 2002
Label - Delta Ent. (LaserLight)

''HARK!''

Release Date - 2008
Label - Robo Records *In 2008, all songs from both albums were digitally remastered and released on a single album entitled ''HARK!'', available on Amazon, iTunes and The Fab Four's official website. The compilation includes the bonus tracks "Sleigh Ride" and "The First Noel", in the style of "Lady Madonna" and "Let It Be", respectively.

''The Ultimate Beatles Tribute in Concert, Vol. 1''

Release Date - 2002/2011
Label - Self-released *Recorded live at the Tomorrowland Terrace at Disneyland in the summer of 2001.

''TV Special Soundtrack''

Release Date - 2013
Label - Self-released *The soundtrack to the PBS special ''The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute'', recorded live at Pechanga Resort & Casino in January 2012. Available exclusively on CD at the Fab Four's official website.

Personnel

*Ron McNeil – Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Harmonica *Ardy Sarraf – Vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Guitar *Gavin Pring – Vocals, Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Sitar *Erik Fidel – Vocals, Drums, Percussion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fab Four (Tribute), The The Beatles tribute bands Musical groups established in 1997