There can be no doubt that the best-known sons of the city of Liverpool are The Beatles. The group first formed in 1960 and played at the city's Cavern Club, originally bearing the name of The Quarrymen. All four members of the group were born in the city. Lead guitarist and vocalist George Harrison (1943-2001) also formed the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, together with Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. Drummer Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey in 1940) joined the band in 1962, replacing the original drummer Pete Best. During the 1980s Starr narrated the TV series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends for children's television. Vocalist and guitarist John Lennon (1940-1980) combined his talents with those of the fourth member of the band, vocalist and bass-player Paul McCartney, to become one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in musical history. All four Beatles were awarded the MBE in 1965, but Lennon returned his medal four years later in protest against Britain's support of American involvement in the war in Vietnam and against Britain's involvement in the civil war in Nigeria. Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980. Lennon's songwriting partner Paul McCartney (now Sir James Paul McCartney) was born in 1942. His song Yesterday (written in 1965) has been covered by more than 2,200 artists, making it the most-covered title in the history of recorded music. In the late 1960s it was rumoured that McCartney had been killed in a car crash and had been secretly replaced by William Campbell (the winner of a Paul McCartney look-alike contest), but this rumour was later denounced as being a hoax. read more