Paul McCartney More Appealing than John Lennon

by Steve Levitt

While on the surface it may seem like an “apples to oranges” comparison, the Q Scores methodology provides the basis for a fair evaluation of living vs. deceased performers. Since both Performer Q and Dead Q use the same methodology including our “Favorites” rating scale, a head-to-head comparison is clearly valid.

Paul McCartney achieved a positive Q Score of 36 in the Summer 2010 Performer Q study of 1,800 performers, while John Lennon’s positive Q Score was 30 in the Fall 2009 Dead Q study of 150 Performers of the Past. It should be noted that this comparison reflects the opinions of adults 50+ over and not the total adult population.

Interestingly, Ringo Starr (23) was much less appealing than McCartney (36), while George Harrison (26) scored only somewhat below Lennon (30). And, on the negative side, Ringo Starr displayed the highest negative Q Score of the four Beatles.

In a before-and-after scenario, George Harrison rated better in death than he did while alive. His positive Q Score rose from 14 to 26 while his negative Q Score dropped from 23 to 12. It can be noted that Michael Jackson also displayed substantially higher positives and much lower negatives after his death.