The Beatles live: Star-Club, Hamburg

This date was The Beatles’ first at Hamburg’s Star-Club, the city’s newest rock ‘n’ roll venue.

John came on stage dressed like a cleaning-woman, doing his cripple act and carrying a long wooden plank. He walked across the stage and knocked over the microphones and some of the drum kit, then he went up and cleaned the microphones. He cleaned under Paul’s armpit, and George’s. The people in the club were laughing – they didn’t know Stuart had died. They didn’t know Stuart. It gave me shivers to watch it, but this is what clowns do, bring humour to tragedy. It was hilarious.
Klaus Voormann
Tune In, Mark Lewisohn

The Beatles at the Star-Club, Hamburg, 1962, with Roy Young on piano

The group spent the following seven weeks performing at the venue, notching up 172 hours of stage time over 48 nights. They finished their stint on 31 May 1962, and left Hamburg on Saturday 2 June.

It was The Beatles’ third residency in Hamburg within two years, but wouldn’t be their last; they returned two more times to the Star-Club before the end of 1962.

Last updated: 25 January 2024
George Harrison and Brian Epstein fly to Hamburg
The Beatles live: Star-Club, Hamburg
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