Mona Best | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 3 January 1924 |
| Died | 9 September 1988 (aged 64) Liverpool, England |
| Occupation | Club owner |
| Spouse(s) | Donald Scanland, John Best |
| Children | 3, including Pete Best |
Alice Mona Best (née Shaw; 3 January 1924 – 9 September 1988) was a British music club proprietor, best known as the owner of The Casbah Coffee Club, a club in Liverpool which served as a venue for rock and roll music during the late 1950s and 1960s. Among the bands to play at The Casbah was the Beatles, for whom her son Pete Best (b. 24 November 1941) was a drummer at the time. Mona Best also had two other sons, John Rory (b. 29 January 1945), and Vincent "Roag" Best (b. 21 July 1962). It was later confirmed that Roag's father was Beatles' associate, music executive Neil Aspinall,[1] although he was not registered as the father on Roag's birth certificate.
After moving to Liverpool from India, where she was born, Best used gambling winnings to buy a house in 1957. She later opened The Casbah Coffee Club in the cellar of the house. It was planned as a members-only club for her sons and their friends. The club was often referred to as The Casbah Club, or The Casbah. In 2006, the property was accorded a Grade II heritage listing.
Best died on 9 September 1988 in a Liverpool hospital after a heart attack coupled with an unspecified "long illness".[2]
- ^ Williams, Richard. "Obituary – Neil Aspinall", The Guardian, 25 March 2008
- ^ Liverpool Echo, 12 September 1988, p. 14.