Pete Best, The Beatles original drummer was replaced by Ringo Starr on August 16, 1962. To commemorate his sacking, 20 years later on April 6, 1982, Best sported this “I’m Not Ringo” shirt for a photo shoot.
On Best firing here is what The Beatles had to say,
George Harrison,
“Pete kept being sick and not showing up for gigs, I was quite responsible for stirring things up. I conspired to get Ringo in for good, I talked to Paul and John until they came round to the idea.”
Paul McCartney,
“It was a strictly professional decision. If he wasn’t up to the mark… then there was no other choice.”
John Lennon,
“We were cowards when we sacked him. We made Brian do it.”
Starr,
“I never felt sorry … I was not involved.”
McCartney,
“I do feel sorry for him, because of what he could have been on to.”
I am pretty sure the other Beatles didn’t really like him too much. In The Beatles Anthology he was never interviewed about his time with the band. Some of the songs featured on Anthology 1 were recorded with Best as the drummer, including songs from the Beatles’ Decca and Parlophone auditions and the Pete Best version of “Love Me Do“. Don’t feel too bad though because Best did received between £1 million and £4 million from the Anthology releases.