Club where The Beatles first played to get plaque

The site of The Beatles first ever performance is set to be honoured with a commemorative plaque.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison played alongside Stuart Sutcliffe - the band's original bass guitarist - and Pete Best, the original drummer, at the Jacaranda on Slater Street in Liverpool in August 1960.

The World Origin Site plaque will acknowledge the "hidden gem where the band cut their teeth" before their breakthrough Hamburg tour.

Graham Stanley, director of the Jacaranda, said the World Origin Site status was an "amazing privilege".

The official unveiling of the plaque takes place at 18:00 BST.

The band, later made up of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Ringo Starr, had a string of classic albums such as Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road.

Their best known hits include Yesterday, Hey Jude, A Hard Day's Night and Let It Be.

Dave McCabe, the frontman of The Zutons, paid tribute to the venue, which still hosts live music every night, serving as a vital hub for grassroots performances and sustaining Liverpool's musical heritage and future.

"Grassroots music venues like the Jacaranda are so important because without them there’s no growth, there’s no education and there’s no real experience.

"They give you a chance to learn about what it is you love about music and find an answer as to why you wanted to do it in the first place."

Martin Wilkie, director of World Origin Site, said: "We are here to help venues, museums and companies focus on the people, places and moments that have helped to make our modern world.

"We started by highlighting the laboratory in which Fleming discovered Penicillin, Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers proved man could fly, and even The Isle of Wight where Marconi built the world’s first radio station."

Mr Stanley said: "We have always been proud of our Beatles heritage, but we haven’t had a clear way to explain it until now."

"It probably wasn’t a big gig for the band; their name and reputation were really made during the Hamburg tour which began just days later. But our venue is where they adopted the most famous band name in history."

Diane Glover, of The Beatles Story museum, said she was thrilled the "birthplace of Merseybeat, the legendary Jacaranda, is getting its due recognition with a green plaque".

"This hidden gem was where the band cut their teeth, and this award cements its place as a cornerstone of Liverpool's musical heritage."

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