EXCLUSIVE: Beatles Drugs Secret — How Paul McCartney and John Lennon Were Reunited By Shared Love of LSD
Paul McCartney and John Lennon took LSD while recording the album, 'Sgt. Pepper.'
Sept. 26 2025, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
Paul McCartney and John Lennon's relationship was pulled back together during the Sgt. Pepper sessions through their shared use of LSD, a new book has revealed.
RadarOnline.com can reveal music writer Ian Leslie, whose book John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs is being published by Faber & Faber, says the drug became both a dividing line and a bridge between the two Beatles in 1967.
John Lennon Accidentally Took LSD While Recording Album
Lennon is believed to have accidentally taken LSD during a recording session.
On March 21 of that year, Lennon, then 26, accidentally took acid during a recording session at Abbey Road.
Leslie said: "John reached into a silver snuff box looking for an upper, but instead he ended up taking a tab of LSD. He suddenly stopped singing and told (Beatles producer) George Martin he wasn't feeling well. Paul and George Harrison quickly realized what had happened and rushed to get him off the roof before he thought he could fly."
That night, McCartney, also then 26, chose to take the drug alongside his partner.
Leslie said: "Paul decided this was the moment to 'get with John.' He wanted to be with him in his misery and fear, but also to reconnect with him on a deeper level. It was Paul reaching out."
John Lennon's Personality Was Impacted By His LSD Usage
McCartney also took LSD during the same session, according to writer Ian Leslie.
According to Leslie, this joint trip led to an unusually intimate exchange.
"John and Paul would sometimes sit and stare into each other's eyes until they dissolved into one another," he said. "It was a way of obliterating their sense of being separate individuals. Paul later admitted it was disturbing, because you ask yourself how you come back from it – and the answer is, you don't."
Leslie argues drugs radically reshaped Lennon's character during this period.
"People who knew John noticed a softening in him that coincided with LSD use," he said. "He stopped drinking himself into rages, became more childlike, even started hugging friends. But it came at a cost – when he wasn't working, he was tripping, leaving him vulnerable and unmoored."
Lennon 'stopped drinking himself into rages' due to the LSD.
McCartney, by contrast, became more focused.
"Paul's drug of choice was cocaine, and he would stay up all night perfecting bass lines," Leslie said. "But he also recognized that John needed channeling. By taking LSD with him, Paul allowed John to play the role of psychedelic guide while ensuring the experience was directed into songwriting."
This dynamic is most evident in the Getting Better track.
Leslie revealed: "The song began with Paul on a sunny day in Primrose Hill, thinking, 'It's getting better.' But when John joined in, he poured his own life into the lyrics – his teenage anger, his abuse of women, his regrets.
Paul McCartney Also Took LSD To Connect With John Lennon
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McCartney, on the other hand, became more 'focused' after taking LSD.
"Into Paul's optimistic frame, John injected heaviness. Together they created a song that captured John's own journey of grudging self-realization."
Leslie stresses the paradox at the heart of their partnership.
"John's productivity was at its lowest on Sgt. Pepper – he initiated only three songs," he said. "Yet Paul coaxed more out of him than anyone else could. Nobody, not even John, believed more in John's talents than Paul did."
By choosing to join Lennon on his LSD trips, Leslie argues, McCartney was not only keeping the partnership alive but redefining its balance.
"It gave John the upper hand in one part of their relationship," he said, "but it also tethered him to Paul and to the band. It was both dangerous and creative – and it helped them finish the most famous album of their career."
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie is out now.
