Come Together! Thousands of Beatles fans flock to Abbey Road to walk across famous zebra crossing and mark 50 years since iconic album was released
- Around 2,000 Beatles fans are at Abbey Road in London trying to recreate iconic album cover photo
- The Fab Four held up traffic on August 8, 1969, to get famous shot of them walking over a zebra crossing
- Abbey Road Studios invited fans in to pose next to giant version of picture and said atmosphere was ‘fun’
- Traffic is being held up by sheer number of people and police are at the scene to maintain safety
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Thousands of Beatles fans have today flocked to the iconic London zebra crossing that was the focus of their Abbey Road album to mark 50 years since the picture was taken.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr held up traffic on August 8, 1969 by posing on the crossing outside their recording studio to capture the famous shot, taken by freelance photographer Iain Macmillan.
And their dedicated fans clamoured to do the same thing today as they packed out the roads in St John’s Wood.
It is believed around 2,000 fans have been outside Abbey Road Studios so far with lines stretching around both sides of the pavement.
Around 2,000 Beatles fans have flocked to Abbey Road in London today to recreate the famous front cover shot of the album of the same name 50 years after the picture was taken
Music lovers are lining up on both sides of the pavement in St John’s Wood to wait their turn to walk over the famous zebra crossing that became synonymous with the group
The original picture was taken by photographer Iain Macmillan on August 8, 1969, with the ‘Fab Four’ holding up traffic themselves to get the perfect shot. It was also picked up by conspiracy theorists claiming Paul McCartney had died and been replaced, with some claiming his bare feet was proof they were correct – because he didn’t need shoes for the afterlife
A barefoot Paul McCartney impersonator sent crowds wild after he successfully proposed to his girlfriend on the crossing, pictured
The studios has also opened its doors to the public, offering them the chance to pose alongside a giant version of the photo for one day only.
A spokesman for the studios said: ‘There are lines stretching out on both sides. I would guess there are about 1000 people out there already.
‘There is a family atmosphere and everyone is having a nice time.’
Vehicles have been held up while fans tried to recreate the photo and police are at the scene to maintain safety.
Beatles fan Gavin Cowell told the Evening Standard the scene was ‘generally pretty jovial, even drivers unable to get past pretty are even tempered’.
Abbey Road was the band’s 11th album and the last to be recorded by all the members of the ‘Fab Four’ at the same time.
Relations between them were breaking down and their final record, Let It Be, was finished after they came in to record individually or in smaller groups.
The Paul McCartney fan became the centre of attention afterwards with hundreds trying to get his picture