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The two remaining members of the original Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, are holding an April 4 concert in Radio City Music Hall. It wouldn't be too newsworthy if the concert was to raise money to help solve problems like homelessness, hunger, or AIDS, but the fact that it's for something unheard-of – Transcendental Meditation – makes it so.

More than 40 years ago, the four original Beatles went to India and had their firsthand experience with meditation. The guys, who weren't all too hot with the idea of organized religion to begin with, were apparently instantly hooked on touching the spiritual. April's concert is going to benefit the David Lynch Foundation (yep, David Lynch the director), which has been an influential contributor to the Transcendental Meditation movement in the United States.

The concert will also feature Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vedder, Metallica, Run DMC, and Moby, among others. The proceeds will ultimately promote the teaching of meditation in public and private schools in the United States... apparently so the kids can grow up without needing psychiatrists.

I think it's all well and good, but I tend to wonder why meditation has to cost so much – the cheapest ticket to see Paul and Ringo perform costs $1,250, and VIP tickets costs upwards to $100,000 – most of which, of course, will go to the good cause.


The Beatles seem to be enjoying a resurgence in popularity these days. Just recently MTV-owned Harmonix, the video game developer that's also credited with the widely-popular “Rock Band” titles, have announced plans to release a rhythm-based video game on the Beatles. It's going to be released September this year, with versions for the Wii, the Playstation 3, and XBox 360.

I've been hearing stories about how video games like “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” have been getting kids hooked on music, encouraging many to pursue musical careers. A Beatles game would be a great way to educate today's generations on the world's most popular band. (I just hope MTV doesn't come up with a Yoko Ono add-on and cause the Beatles game to fall apart...)

Here's another one – if you want to learn even more about the Beatles, consider moving to England and get an MFA in Beatlesology. I'm not kidding – the Liverpool Hope University really opened a 2-year college program centered around the Beatles and their impact on music and society. There's also Wikipedia, but that's for high school.