Pete Best

Pete Best
Pete Best
	Best performing in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Randolph Peter Scanland
Born	24 November 1941 (age 83); Madras, British India
Origin	Liverpool, England
Genres	Rock; rock and roll;
Occupations	Musician; singer; songwriter;
Instruments	Drums; vocals;
Years active	1959–1968; 1988–present;
Formerly of	The Beatles; Lee Curtis and the All-Stars; Pete Best & the All-Stars; The Pete Best Four; The Pete Best Combo; The Pete Best Band;
Website	petebest.com

Randolph Peter Best (né Scanland; born 24 November 1941) is an English musician who was the drummer for the Beatles from 1960 to 1962. He was dismissed shortly before the band achieved worldwide fame and is one of several people referred to as a fifth Beatle.

Best's mother, Mona Best (1924–1988), opened the Casbah Coffee Club in the cellar of the Bests' house in Liverpool. The Beatles (at the time known as the Quarrymen) played some of their first concerts at the club. The Beatles invited Best to join the band on 12 August 1960, on the eve of the group's first Hamburg season of club dates. Ringo Starr eventually replaced Best on 16 August 1962 when the group's manager, Brian Epstein, fired Best at the request of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison following the band's first recording session. Over 30 years later, Best received a significant monetary payout for his work with the Beatles after the release of their 1995 compilation of their early recordings on Anthology 1; Best played the drums on 10 of the album's tracks, including the Decca auditions.

After working in several commercially unsuccessful groups, Best gave up being in the music industry to work as a civil servant for 20 years before starting the Pete Best Band.