Ardavan Sarraf Ronald Mendonça Adam Hastings Gavin Pring Jon Fickes Neil Candelora Doug Couture Robbie Berg Erik Fidel Richard Lewis Miles Frizzell
Past members
David Brighton Frank Canino Frank Mendonca III Tyson Kelly
Jim Owen Joe Gallo Michael Amador Gilbert Bonilla Rolo Sandoval Brendan Peleo-Lazar Luis Renteria Joseph Bologna Joshua Jones
The band's beginnings included Tuesday night performances at a small venue called Music City in Fountain Valley, as well as regular performances at Disneyland's Tomorrowland Terrace in Anaheim, The Hop in Puente Hills and Scruffy O’Sheas in Marina del Rey.[2] The core group consisted of Mendonça (John Lennon), along with Ardy Sarraf (Paul McCartney), Michael Amador (George Harrison) and Rolo Sandoval (Ringo Starr). Sarraf, a natural right-hander, taught himself to play the bass guitar left-handed to emulate McCartney.[3]
From 2005 to 2008, the Fab Four brought in a second cast of musicians to help perform a full stage show six nights a week in Las Vegas, with various members alternating between cast. Performing as Fab Four Mania, the Vegas cast performed regularly at locations such as the Las Vegas Hilton,[4]The Aladdin,[5] The Sahara[6][7] and The Riviera.[8]
In 2013, the Fab Four received an Emmy Award for their PBS special "The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute," filmed at Pechanga Resort & Casino in 2012.[9][10] As of 2019, the most common lineup formerly consisted of Ardy Sarraf (McCartney), Adam Hastings (Lennon), Gavin Pring (Harrison) and Joe Bologna (Starr).
As of 2020 and 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fab Four have been live streaming numerous concerts, with Ronald Mendonça, Rolo Sandoval and Erik Fidel coming back.
The cast
As of now, The Fab Four has a rotating cast that changes almost every show. Listed below are the cast members that are currently part of The Fab Four’s regular rotation.
Formed by Ardy Sarraf, Wingsband is a Paul McCartney and Wings tribute act that covers many of McCartney's biggest post-Beatles hits. The band features Ronald Mendonça as Denny Laine, Michael Amador as Henry McCullough and Rolo Sandoval as Joe English, plus a horn section led by Wendell Kelly (The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston) and singer/songwriter Christine Rosander as Linda McCartney. Both Laurence Juber, Wings guitarist from 1978 to 1981, and Denny Seiwell, the original Wings drummer from 1971 to 1973, have performed onstage with Wingsband at The Grove in Anaheim, CA.
George Harry’s Son
George Harrison impersonator and Liverpool native, Gavin Pring, created a tribute act called George Harry's Son to celebrate Harrison's solo material, as well as his hits from the Beatle years. Pring has brought this act to the top Beatles music festivals, including the annual Beatleweek in Liverpool[11] at the Mathew Street Festival and Abbey Road on the River in the United States. Pring also performed on the same stage as Paul McCartney in 2002 for the tribute show held on Harrison's birthday.
Rutlemania
In 2007, The Fab Four was approached by Eric Idle from the British comedy group Monty Python to perform a set of shows celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Rutles, a Beatles parody group formed in 1975 by Idle and Neil Innes. The show featured Mendonça as Ron Nasty (originally played by Innes), Sarraf as Dirk McQuickly (Idle), Amador as Stig O’Hara (Ricky Fataar) and Sandoval as Barry Wom (John Halsey), and was performed multiple nights in both Los Angeles[12][13] and New York.[14][15]
Yellow Submarine movie remake
In 2010, The Fab Four was cast to do the motion-capture performance footage for director Robert Zemeckis' 3-D remake of The Beatles animated film classic, Yellow Submarine. The movie was set to be released sometime in 2012, but Disney canceled the project when Zemeckis' film Mars Needs Moms performed poorly in the box office and critics' reviews of Zemeckis' animations were mostly negative.[16][17][18][19]
Notable appearances
Recorded Beatles tracks "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Please Please Me" and "Kansas City" that were featured in the biopicThe Linda McCartney Story in 2000.[20]
Performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 2003 for the 37th anniversary of the Beatles’ concerts there.[21]
Performed at an unveiling of Madame Tussaud's Beatles wax figures, when the figures were brought to Las Vegas from London for a short exhibit in 2012.[27]
In 2008, all songs from both albums were digitally remastered and released on a single album entitled HARK!,[30] available on Amazon, iTunes and The Fab Four's official website. The compilation includes the bonus tracks "Sleigh Ride" and "The First Noel", in the style of "Lady Madonna" and "Let It Be", respectively.[31]
The Ultimate Beatles Tribute in Concert, Vol. 1
Release Date - 2002/2011 Label - Self-released
Recorded live at the Tomorrowland Terrace at Disneyland in the summer of 2001.[32][33]
The soundtrack to the PBS special The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute, recorded live at Pechanga Resort & Casino in January 2012. Available exclusively on CD at the Fab Four's official website.[34]
Personnel
Ronald Mendonça – Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Harmonica
Ardy Sarraf – Vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Guitar
Gavin Pring – Vocals, Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Sitar
^The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Pacific Southwest Chapter (2014-02-01). "2013 Emmy Award Winners"(PDF). nataspw.org. Retrieved 2014-11-15.