On the 53rd Anniversary of the release of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', here is a thread about the celebrities featured on the album cover and why The Beatles chose those people.

At first, The Beatles were not going to ask permission for the use of people's faces, with Paul saying: "No, no, no. People are gonna love it! They’re all on The Beatles cover, you know! It’ll be a laugh, they’ll understand".

But EMI producers made sure they asked permission.

Stuart Sutcliffe:

John Lennon's best friend from Liverpool Art College and the 'fifth Beatle', Stuart was featured on the album cover as a memorial to his short, impactful life. The reason why he is on the album cover is self-explanatory, The Beatles loved him.

Marilyn Monroe:

Collectively, as most men did in the 60's, The Beatles were all fans of Monroe's work as an actor and an artist. Of course she featured on their album.

Lewis Carroll:

Contrary to popular belief and despite Paul's plea that The Beatles "ain't written no poetry" (haha), John Lennon was interested in poetry. Carroll's poem 'The Walrus and the Carpenter' was a small inspiration for and featured in the song, 'I Am The Walrus'.

Edgar Allan Poe:

Again, another poet whose work The Beatles liked. John was particularly fond of his work because he dabbled in horror and dark fiction.

Sir Robert Peel:

Peel was elected Prime Minister twice in his time but his most notable contribution to British culture was the creation of the 'Peelers' in 1829, the foundations of the Metropolitan Police Service in London. He's a personal favourite of mine.

Karlheinz Stockhausen:

Stockhausen was a German composer, who was famous for playing around with sound and experimenting. His work influenced Paul to do the same within this album, particularly on 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.

Shirley Temple:

Temple featured twice on the album cover and was featured because she was a good child actor in the 30's.

Bob Dylan:

At the time of release, Bob Dylan was one of the biggest names in music and The Beatles were massive fans of his music and so they included him on the album cover.

Lenny Bruce:

One of The Beatles' favourite comedians. He was arrested and was found guilty of breaking obscenity laws in 1964 but The Beatles' love of his work meant he made it onto the cover.

The Rolling Stones:

The Beatles' rival band (haha) and friends were featured on the album in banner form, with the Shirley Bassey photo holding a banner saying "Welcome the Rolling Stones".

Young Beatles:

The Beatles featured their mop-top alter-egos on the album as a sort of "gimick" to show that they weren't completely the same band that they were a few years ago. This sparked the theory that Paul had died because the younger boys look as though they're mourning.

Laurel and Hardy:

Popular actors and comedians 'Laurel and Hardy' featured on the album cover because The Beatles were big fans of their work, understandably. It's as simple as that.

Albert Stubbins:

Liverpool Football Club legend. Despite not being massive football fans themselves, Stubbins is a massive name within Liverpool and the boys would have been aware of his influence in winning Liverpool's League Championship title in 1947.

Adolf Hitler:

Hitler didn't make it onto the final album cover but George Martin said that John Lennon wanted to include him on the photo "just to be a naughty boy". Yikes.

I'd carry on but I've for an essay due in tomorrow so I'm going to have to leave it here. Sorry. But there are lots and lots of notable characters on their album cover. The Sgt. Pepper cover was ambitious and it definitely worked out in their favour. Their power.