Beatles Music Group

Viacom Inc. and the video game industry are hoping they'll get more than a little help from the Beatles. When the Beatles: Rock Band hits stores Sept. 9, Viacom is betting that the new title from its MTV unit will end a slump in the market and vindicate the company's expensive and unprofitable entry into the music video game business over the last two years. The new game applies the simulated rock star experience that many are familiar with from other Rock Band games and Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Guitar Hero and brings in the Beatles, who have never before appeared in a video game.

Trodding heavily toward you like a 300-foot blue elephant in a band uniform, The Beatles: Rock Band video game will consume much of the industry's advertising bandwidth this summer ahead of its Sept. 9 release. A collaboration between MTV Games' Harmonix and the Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd.

The original handwritten lyrics of the Beatles' melancholy rock song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" will be auctioned Monday. Written by George Harrison on a white sheet of paper in barely legible penmanship, the lyrics are expected to fetch between $500,000 and $800,000. It's a "really significant and rare piece of memorabilia," said Neil Roberts, auction manager at Britain-based Cooper Owen, which is partnering with Scottsdale-based auctioneer Barrett-Jackson for the sale.

One day, a little over five years ago, Russ Lease decided that what the world needed was historically accurate, reasonably priced reproductions of Beatles clothing: stitch-for-stitch copies of the distinctive outfits the famous musicians wore in concert. Luckily, Russ was in the position to provide them. He and his brother owned the Pants Plus clothing store in a suburban Maryland mall from 1976 until the mall closed in 2001. Russ knew the clothing industry. And he knew the Beatles.

The long and winding road that would allow music lovers to finally meet the Beatles via digital downloads still has a few miles to go despite a copyright settlement Monday that raised hopes it would happen soon. Although the Beatles' Apple Corps record label made peace with computer and digital media company Apple Inc. over their uses of the fruit as a logo, there are hurdles to clear before "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" can be purchased on iTunes.

Apple Corps, guardian of the Beatles' commercial interests, said Tuesday its chief executive, a longtime friend of the Fab Four, has quit. Neil Aspinall, a school friend of Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison, was the band's first road manager and would drive them between gigs in his van. He later became their personal assistant and in 1968 was given a management role at Apple Records, the band's record label.

The Beatles' Apple Corps has settled a royalties dispute with record label EMI Group, the two companies said Thursday, raising hopes that Beatles recordings may soon be legally available online. "It was settled on mutually acceptable terms last month," Apple Corps and EMI said in a joint statement. They refused to provide details of the settlement.

WHAT began as a tribute by the four remaining Beatles principals to lost bandmates and spouses ended up as a rare but sweet family night out here Tuesday for Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison.

A monument to the Beatles will be built in Hamburg, Germany, where the Fab Four launched their international career 45 years ago. Radio station Oldie 95, the organizer, says the $625,000 steel monument will be built on a corner of the St. Pauli district near clubs where the Beatles played songs such as "Love Me Do" in 1962. The monument will represent Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and early Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe, who died in Hamburg in 1962, the radio station said.

Apple Inc.'s iTunes began selling nine albums from the late George Harrison, the last of the four Beatles to have his solo work added to the online music store. The albums, including "All Things Must Pass," went on sale Tuesday, Apple said. This year, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company added solo music from former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late John Lennon. ITunes, the most popular online music store, still lacks songs from the Beatles as a group.