Paul McCartney signing autographs before the final gig at The Cavern Club | 1963, silver gelatin print, signed, titled, dated, by the photographer, framed

On the 19th of February 1963, John, Paul, George, and Ringo discovered that 'Please Please Me' had reached Number One on the UK singles chart. On that very day, photographer Michael Ward embarked on a journey from London to photograph them

"I didn't know who they were; I'd never heard of them," he quipped. "I wasn't interested in them, and they weren't remotely interested in me — or in having their photographs taken!"

After becoming acquainted, Ward's photographs beautifully captured The Beatles on the brink of Beatlemania, performing one of their final gigs at The Cavern. This is one of those famous and highly sought after shots. Here signed, titled and dated by the famous photographer Michael Ward, the print shows John Lennon and Paul McCartney onstage the Cavern Club sharing the microphone.

Michael Ward (1929-2011) documented renowned musicians, actors, and visual artists, such as Pattie Boyd, Julie Christie, Marianne Faithfull, Gary Cooper, Hugh Grant, David Hockney, and Pauline Boty. He captured iconic images of The Beatles at The Cavern Club in 1963, and went on to photograph The Rolling Stones a year later.

Ward was a contributor to The Evening Standard for 4 years and then worked at The Sunday Times for 30 years until retirement, covering many events from the Troubles in Northern Ireland to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. He was married to Elizabeth Seal (an award-winning actress) for 40 years before passing away in 2011. His works reside in the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection.