An Interview With Astrid Kirchherr

[@nige-g]

Astrid passed just a few days ago, now she is with her Stuart. RIP Astrid

[@hollywoodjoe123]

Well said - Yes indeed - now they both are in Heaven !

[@gtr1983]

I met her around '97, was down on my luck and busking to scrape together enough for some food and a few beers, was playing and singing Girl by the Beatles one evening and a lady came up to me crying and at first I thought maybe my singing was that bad and then she told me I brought her right back to her Hamburg Germany days with the Beatles and introduced herself as Astrid and told me that was the most happiest time of her life, we ended up talking for around an hour, lovely lady, much later on I saw a picture of her and recognized that was the lady that talked to me, I hardly made any money that evening but that encounter with history more than made up for any money I could had made and she really gave me hope ! I'll never forget that, so sorry to hear of her passing..RIP Astrid

[@kylehill8947]

Wow, engaged to a Beatle, dated the artist of the 'Revolver' album, and came up with The Beatles famous mop-top haircuts. She is a very important woman in history indeed

[@ujalaazhar9589]

Engaged to a Beatle? Who?

[@eisenkreuzmusik]

@@ujalaazhar9589 Stu

[@hihihi686868]

And she also took the first semi professional photos of the Beatles

[@colindant3410]

@@ujalaazhar9589 Stuart Sutcliffe

[@trillioncrowns]

Stuart and John created the Beatles!! This guy was the Beatle we never Got! He was a Beatle who decided to take a break to paint and died... Funny how Destiny works! He was about to conquer the world!! Then suddenly fate decides to kill him! Its a powerful thought! What could have been!!! A true poet......lost to history.......never to be..........

[@salchaos]

She was a saint. She never tried to make a penny off their fame. She's responsible for the cover of "With the Beatles." It's her style. They told the photographer to do it like that.

[@rosaliewetzel6662]

Sal Guglielmino she was their photographer for a large majority of their early photos too, never forget that

[@lydiarodgers]

Sal Guglielmino and she gave up photography as a career in 1968 because she felt she was only known for her beatles photographs which is such a shame. she wasn’t interested in making money off them, they were just her friends

[@bobbybrooks4826]

Paid to be quiet

[@AaronEddieHYo]

@@bobbybrooks4826 told not to talk about all of the Paul's

[@officeofpeaceinformation5094]

Yes, her and Stu were the real artists in the group. But that just shows that John, Paul and Pete were artists in their own right, but Stu was light years ahead of them. His death is just so sad. He quit the Beatles because he had bigger fish to fry, artistically speaking.

[@BradWietersen]

I love Astrid's accent. I could listen to her talk all day!

[@lydiarodgers]

rest in peace beautiful astrid, an inspiration to so many across the world

[@skaf9587]

I couldn’t agree with you more Lydia

[@robd1329]

She died??

[@lydiarodgers]

@@robd1329 yes, in may of last year. a week before her birthday🤧

[@skaf9587]

@@robd1329 yep 12 May 2020 8 days short of her 82nd birthday

[@robd1329]

@@lydiarodgers what a shame...she took photos that became forever legendary

[@55102]

RIP Astrid, you were part of that Musical revolution called The Beatles.

[@dennisstone1493]

I hope this beautiful soul will never be forgotten. Not only for her work with The Beatles, but also as a major catalyst in the way society changed in the 1960's. And I hope she is again with Stuart. Their deep and short lived love truly is a modern example of a Greek Tragedy and/or a Shakespearean play. RIP dear Astrid.

[@Cissy2cute]

Astrid is still such a beautiful person. I have no doubt that Stu would have become a famous artist had he lived.

[@suzannel8926]

Why not? His friends became one of the biggest bands.

[@barbj9785]

Agreed. Stu would have been a famous artist-Im sure he would have been asked to design a Beatles album cover in time around the time of Sgt. Peppers. Too bad he was injured and died so young.

[@cicerobezerra6866]

@@suzannel8926 very good

[@MicheleGer]

I can associate myself with the way Astrid feels. 50 years later, I also have the love of my life who died and despite several marriages and relationships, have and will always love him.

[@VerticalMan09]

Nigga

[@christy7698]

Astrid was a great photographer! The pictures she took of "early" Beatles were some of the best, in my opinion. Stu and Astrid made for a cute couple and anyone with eyes could see that they were in love. R.I.P., Stu and Astrid, because you are together, again, finally....

[@beatleswithwings3757]

I first met lovely Astrid in 1960 when she came to the Kaiser Keller were I was playing with my band Derry and the Seniors, The Beatles used come to the club after they had finished their gig at the Indra, and would get up and jam with us, Astrid ,Klaus, and a few of their artistic friends would stay until we'd all finished playing, maybe around 3.00 am. I think all the guys fancied Astrid, but Stu and her seemed to be an item straight from the beginning. Stu ended up playing with my band because the boss of the club decided to split my band in two, so as to keep live music going all night, so Stu was nicked from The Beatles to play with us, neither he nor The Beatles were best pleased, but at least we could see Astrid most nights. She's a really nice person, used to see her quite often when I played Hamburg.

[@lamper2]

I would love to interview you-not that I have a show just speaking selfishly! I've only heard of your band as mentioned in many books but they always spoke of you kindly [e-mail]

[@-dale2051]

What would you say now, why didn't you make it big like The Beatles? Where was your mistake?

[@plasticweapon]

@@-dale2051 you know everybody can't be the beatles, right?

[@Kieop]

Is that you, Howie?

[@gunofapreacherman1340]

R.I.P. Astrid. Thank you for the gift you gave to the world. Your beautiful photographs are an important part of history, as was your influence on the greatest group of all time. Your name will live forever. ❤️

[@beatlejim64]

I met her in NYC.....classy as hell...a gentle spirit....and she will be missed. R.I.P.

[@TheBelilu]

I just LOVEEEEEEEE this woman! She is so special, just like the love of her life, Stuart Sutcliffe. I'm fascinated by both of them & by their story! I wish to meet her one day!

[@tolaga9172]

Rest in peace (with Stu) beautiful Lady.

[@antoinettewitt2098]

It is nice to hear her voice & her story. God Bless her RIP with Stuart.

[@grahamsclater9988]

A wonderful interview...so many memories for me too.........

[@walshaw2]

She has a great soul. May Astrid live happily forever

[@calisongbird]

She just died this week

[@walshaw2]

@@calisongbird Finally reunited with her great love Stuart..thanks for the info even though it saddened me to hear it.

[@heathinvaderstudios]

Rest In Peace Astrid, an amazing photographer and person. I can only imagine the photos you’re taking up in Heaven right now! Please say hello to Stu, John, and George for em when you get the chance. 😔

[@mikek5958]

What a talented, beautiful, sweet and kind woman she was. Listening to her talk about Stu is so heartwarming and so sad. He was as gifted if not more so than any of them. What a terrible loss.

[@Kohl423]

Klaus also designed the album cover for Revolver. Astrids photos capture a special moment in time. Black & White photography works brilliantly with these themes, but also is reflective of those times that seemed to those alive then to be, Black & White. Its only later that we all begn to think more in colour. During this period we used to see a lot of very haunting B & W french films with poor sub titles and yet they also conveyed or captured an atmosphere never to be repeated.

[@martinhambleton5076]

Such style and modesty. RIP Astrid.💐

[@myahollandia3552]

Lovely woman !! I wish there were more interviews with her

[@fabiodolfi1944]

Beautiful soul... She is with her Stuart now, the love of her life. I'm happy

[@paulisthelegend]

RIP Astrid. Such sad news. I hope you are with Stuart again!

[@bubblesdew6]

I love Astrid's voice, her and Stuart seemed like such a cute couple

[@1982pencil]

Astrid, Klaus, and Jurgen were the original hipsters. Such freaking cool people. Astrid also talks about them in such a warm, almost motherly way. It's really sweet.

[@swimwin]

Excellent! That's Terri Gross, of Philadelphia's WHYY's "Fresh Air" radio program, conducting the interview. Astrid's photos of the Beatles reverberate through the decades.

[@rolandpeachie9807]

Astrid was Fantastic and Creative, because of her I have a love for Rolleicord Cameras, very Talented Woman...RIP

[@jeffpalmar2182]

Much as I love other beat groups, The Beatles had an aesthetic head start, as well as the innate songwriting talent. I once interviewed John Mcnally from The Searchers, asking him what it was about the band and he replied that it was thier power. Usually audiences in ballrooms would mill around and dance when a band played, but when The Beatles played they would surge to the stage. Astrid plainly an important counterpart and influence. Stu an absolute style icon (see Johnny Marr's biography). Ridiculously handsome man, so my wife says. So terribly sad what happened, but there is a legacy of beauty and art. ML

[@brersam9473]

Astrid seems like the nicest lady. She literally described Stu as basically the nicest guy. I don't blame her. I just think it's so SWEET!!!!

[@missionrd100]

Thank-you for this.

[@yomasane3670]

2:00 George grafted Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven'' solo onto "Red Hot''.

[@suzannel8926]

Of course she was in love with Stu. They were engaged and he was relocating to stay in Germany to study art in Hamburg.

[@Cissy2cute]

Yes, I think it was love at first sight. They seemed such a good match and she was very concerned about those awful headaches he was getting. Even so, he would not go to see a doctor; perhaps something could have been done. How awful it must have been for Astrid when he died so suddenly. She was the "Baby's In Black" inspiration,

[@bobbybrooks4826]

@@Cissy2cute no mention of headaches by his sister

[@Cissy2cute]

@@bobbybrooks4826 Of course we will never know. One explanation could be that he didn't want to worry his family, being so far from home. Have to do some more research on this. In any case, the art world lost a real talent.

[@RandyR]

RIP. You can now join Stu, John an George Across The Universe.

[@nige-g]

Nice thought Randy, my sentiments also. Astrid Kirchherr will forever be with her Stuart. RIP Astrid

[@RandyR]

@@nige-g Had the honor of meeting her at Beatlefest 98 back home in Los Angeles. Real sweet lady

[@ThePianoMan1953]

I came upon this video while reading, "How They Became the Beatles" by Pawlowski. I'm on a personal mission to understand how these young men could write so much amazing music. What a fascinating journey.

[@Unixilandia]

Ms. Astrid is a VERY gifted photographer, & at a very young age! (I used to be a Prof. photographer & darkroom tech.)

[@vicmedel3273]

a new insight into the lives of the Beatles.

[@mikecroaker3024]

RIP ... History will remember, always.

[@deemika]

A great interview. It's rare you hear such intelligent and perceptive questions from an interviewer like this.

[@JedHead77]

Rest in peace, Astrid. 🥀📷

[@charlesgriner8987]

Astrid Stu Sutcliffe and Pete best all played a good key part in the amazing story of the Beatles

[@nicolefoster1741]

I love that picture of Klaus. So random and adorable.

[@gtrdoc911]

very insightful...thank you

[@pocopico7409]

Wow, how interesting this is. I’ve been a Beatles fan for 58 years and never really knew any of this. I always figured there was SOMEONE that came up with the Beatles hairstyle, but I never heard exactly who it was…and they never really said where it came from when they were asked about it (which was only everywhere they went).

[@cjmacq-vg8um]

astrid seems such a gentle and artistic soul. (a lot lkike stu i guess.) she was the only one involved in the beatle story to not get her proper credit or deserved financial benefit. she was never properly compensated for those fabulous photos of the beatles she took in hamburg. this video was posted 5 years before i ever went on YT. but, thanks for the video.

[@barryw2659]

A wonderful artistic person. RIP

[@theyrekrnations8990]

Great interview!

[@bobbarcus8310]

he is a big part of Beatles folklore..Haircuts,being in love with Stu

[@calisongbird]

*She

[@Blanfear07]

Astrid Kirchherr has had an impact on world culture off of the Rictor-Scale, and it will only be accurately reckoned centuries later. To quote Stephen Crane in "Maggie--a Girl of the Streets", She blossomed in a mud puddle [post-war Germany]; this to become a single-handed force for psycho-social and politico-cultural liberation. All with just a gorgeous, elfin-featured face of her own and a knack for capturing un-earthly beauty on earth with a camera!

[@Jp67-n6b]

I have a massive Astrid photo taken in Hamburg at the fair, the Hannover one.

[@Jeff-jg7jh]

The love of my life.

[@SenorZorrozzz]

Later she got over Stu and grew her hair. She was with the Beatles a number of times thereafter. The Beatles said that at one time or another she was the girlfriend of each of them. They were young, kids.

[@terka138]

I would say she never got over Stu. In one interview she says that all of her marriages ended up divorced and she has no children. Also yeah, she was friend with all of The Beatles (mostly with John and George) but they were only friends! Read the book (Astrid Kirchherr : A retrospective) or find some letters that she wrote to Stu's mother Millie. She still puts a flower next to his picture on her bedside. Believe me, this sort of pain will never go away. You have someone by your side, you think it will last forever, you love them like nothing else in this world and boom - they are gone. And your pain is not smaller because you are very young.

[@nige-g]

@@terka138 Astrid said Stuart was the love of her life. Astrid passed just a few days ago. R.I.P.

[@terka138]

@@nige-g I know, I'm so sad and truly heartbroken. But I believe that Astrid is now with Stuart, the love of her life. Rest in peace Astrid, you lovely lady.

[@williamjordan5554]

Klaus Voorman drew the cover of Revolver and played bass for John Lennon. Good job.

[@501sqn3]

A great loss to a world which has very very few 'qualified Human beings ' on it ! RIP dear lady.x

[@raulmacias1311]

Topic: "Astrid Kirchherr's Pictures" ~ Quote by GEORGE HARRISON ~ "Astrid was totally responsible for our whole image. She said, 'Hold your head here, turn to the left.' ... All we did was pose."

[@StarVoyager9]

For those of you that don't know, Klaus Voormann, a companion of Astrid, eventually became a pretty good bass player [. he has played on a lot of albums for various famous rockers. I think he may have also been sitting in on Double Fantasy.

[@RadicalCaveman]

Voorman definitely played with John after the breakup. He also drew the Revolver cover!

[@BigSky1]

The last 2 albums of John’s that Klaus played On were Walls And Bridges and Rock n Roll. Tony Levine played bass on Double Fantasy.

[@mikesaunders4775]

Important member of Manfred Mann.

[@patrickrang9525]

Klaus played on the Imagine album and the Plastic Ono Band album with John and Ringo..plus played on George’s All Things Must Pass

[@Xobelism]

This beautiful sound of rock and roll music . . .

[@ewankerr3011]

A very important Lady in early Beatle history. She didn't sell out.

[@bobbybrooks4826]

How do you know

[@ewankerr3011]

@@bobbybrooks4826 :Where are the books, articles interviews in which she spills the beans on all the scandals?

[@bobbybrooks4826]

People Will do almost anything for millions of dollars ...or , she didn't have any real useful information.

[@ewankerr3011]

@@bobbybrooks4826 : She styled their hair and created the mop top; she was part of their Hamburg scene; she lived with Stu. She was areal insider.

[@bobbybrooks4826]

@@ewankerr3011 yes,,, I know.... Look, Young healthy men don't just drop Dead from brain aneurysms ... I don't believe in coincidences... Especially one's That end UP being beneficial to certain people and especially when there's a lot of high stake events going on.

[@paulhallatt4313]

I'm not a very big George Harrison fan but I'm really impressed bearing in mind how old he was at the time that he was the first one after Stu to get the haircut.

[@TheDorr71]

This is beautiful

[@rockingbird2246]

R.I.P Astrid Kirchherr. Bon Voyage.

[@stannats2637]

What a love story

[@adamfindlay7091]

My favourite individual in the offstage of the Liverpool4. Or 5 or 6. Never saw the pics with grey jackets. Can you imagine how angry Lennon would have been unable to get a leather?!

[@SenorZorrozzz]

The last pics of Stu in 1961, he looks like guys did in 1964!

[@keithwaites9991]

God bless darling x

[@stickshiftdriver1832]

It goes to show that influencers who styles that changed the world always go unsung and remain in the shadow of darkness

[@originalmelinasfilmworld]

Ruhe in Frieden. Jetzt is sie mit einem Teil der Jungs wieder zusammen

[@googoo-gjoob]

oh, the history which perished with Astrid.

[@javo8063]

I think astrid was platonic love of all that john wrote the early beatles was nothing more than the frustration of not being to fall in love with astrid.

[@hania88888]

rest in peace Astrid :(

[@SenorZorrozzz]

My girl is red hot- SUN Records. Cool. Tempo is insanely fast!

[@robertlynch3534]

She is so very cool. Astrid.

[@theblytonian3906]

Valuable interview regardless the interviewer leading...

[@andy0imes]

Does anybody know how to contact Astrid Kirchkerr? I would LOVE to interview her!!

[@ixis99]

Morgan Imes she lives in the Altona section of Hamburg last I heard.

[@Limba777]

Gold.

[@rickb4806]

I have a 1964 Hofner Club guitar just like Lennon has in the group photo at 1.25. And McCartney has upside down in the lorry photo. Had it since i was 12 in 1967.

[@floydthebarber9956]

The photo of George at 1:39 is the spitting image of Dhani. Wow.

[@lamper2]

thanks for posting this I never listen to npr

[@weeooh1]

RIP Astrid.

[@shivasirons6159]

Nice photos

[@williamoverly1617]

Let's face it, Klaus and Astrid were the impetous behind the Beatles. Their German intellectualism was instrumental in recognizing the greatness of this struggling group from England.

[@jaapklein1600]

Mooi 💜dank u wel!

[@Mclemonade]

What song are they singing at the start ?!

[@rogerscottq]

That was a cool riff at 3:34 or so. What was that?

[@SenorZorrozzz]

See in those photos how tiny Stu was?

[@bravebelt67]

In my opinion, If Stuart had lived he would of joined John and Yoko in the post-beatle Plastic Ono Band, or a renown painter or model. Either way he was bound for greatness.

[@stevemorris6790]

Stu was terrible on playing instruments. Lol

[@krautperker]

R.i.P.

[@leonalaine]

is that pete best in the drums?

[@TheAnn2shoes]

I believe she was responsible for inventing the Beatles haircut?

[@MrPepper7860]

@Ann TwoShoes Yes, more or less, Astrid was the "inventor" of the Beatles haircut, but it wasn't just her...It was the look of her friends, Klaus Voorman & Jurgen Vollmer, the latter having talked John & Paul, rather reluctantly at the time, into the new look. But Pete Best never adopted the new look...Maybe that could have been partly the reason why he was dropped from the group...because he didn't fall in line with the rest of them???

[@Reprodestruxion]

MrPepper7860 Pete Best doesn't sound that bad of a drummer but I don't think he could have come up and played the Tomorrow never knows drum beat

[@dinocarlucci2105]

MrPepper7860 Pete never had the type of hair to have a Beatle hairstyle it was too wavy not straight like the others

[@williamjordan5554]

Okay, now I'm curious about how John and Paul got Beatle haircuts in Paris without Klaus's or Astrid's presence. I had once heard it was a common hairstyle among the French bohemian types. And it sounds like they were prompted to get the haircuts. What's the truth?

[@konstantia1607]

William, you might look for Tony Sheridan in a 2003 tour and discussion of the early Hamburg days with the Beatles-the video is here on youtube. He mentions the haircuts and his take is amusing. He’s quite insightful and entertaining as he describes the whole early-sixties scene, which, apart from the music, seems to have been no picnic....

[@Kieop]

She told you. It was Jurgen Vollmer, who had moved to Paris to be a photographer. Paul and John got their hair cut there in Oct '61.

[@eldiablo8580]

Yes Jurgen had taken up an apprenticeship in Paris. When John turned 21, he was given £100 by a wealthy Scottish relative. He and Paul planned to hitch hike from Liverpool to Spain. When they got to Paris, they actively looked up Jurgen and when they found him, they asked him to cut their hair in the Klaus/Stuart/George style which the rest of the world would go on to know as the Beatle Mop Top

[@menschmichael]

es gibt einen wundervollen film mit astrid und stuart ,die frühen jahren in hamburg der beatles.

[@ВасилийГаньшин-о8ф]

Где этот фильм посмотреть, мой друг?

[@RandyTaylorU2]

Does anyone know the date of this interview?

[@SvetlanaKoshkareva]

This interview was originally broadcast on January 15, 2008. The book 'Astrid Kirchherr: A Retrospective' was published this week and examines Kirchherr's photographs she took both before and after working with The Beatles. Hamburg-born Astrid Kirchherr met The Beatles in 1960, before they were famous, when they came to perform in Germany. An art student in Hamburg, she took some of the earliest photographs of the group -- now-classic shots that capture the foursome back before Ringo joined the band, back when Stuart Sutcliffe was playing bass. And Kirchherr has often been credited with convincing the band to adopt those iconic mop-tops. Kirchherr and Sutcliffe fell in love and got engaged -- he was more of a painter than a bass player, as it turned out -- and Sutcliffe quit the band to stay behind in Hamburg. But Sutcliffe died of a brain hemorrhage in 1962, and in 1964 Kirchherr accompanied her photographer friend Max Scheler to London to shoot behind-the-scenes photographs on the film A Hard Day's Night -- and to capture the now internationally famous Beatles in their hometown of Liverpool. The photos Kirchherr and Scheler took on that trip are collected in the book Yesterday: The Beatles Once Upon a time". Kirchherr tells Terry Gross that when she first saw the Beatles playing in a basement dive in Hamburg -- a "dark, filthy cellar ... not the kind of place where young ladies in the '50s or '60s were seen" -- she was "amazed at how beautiful these boys looked. It was a photographer's dream."

[@lamper2]

notice the roll over solo in red hot

[@bytheway1031]

🎂Astrid Kirchherr 05-20-2022 📷

[@maryrosestattelman1513]

wow.....why to kill something beautiful,photography is something very hard to do,it about the light and the setting,not just the click of a button, a good photographer can see things in a why other people can and then catch it on film

[@gottasweep4189]

R.I.P ASTRID

[@mikesaunders4775]

People are always nominating so and so as the 'fifth' Beatle.a good case can be made for Astrid.RIP Fraulein Kirchherr.

[@bobbybrooks4826]

Another Stu denier

[@mikesaunders4775]

@@bobbybrooks4826 Not at all Bobby, maybe I should have said SIXTH Beatle.