My Sweet Lord was George Harrison's first solo single, released on 23 November 1970 in the USA and 15 January 1971 in the UK. It reached No. 1 on 30 January in the UK, and stayed there for five weeks.
George Harrison had three more Top Ten hits in the UK. Two of them - Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) and Got My Mind Set On You - reached No. 1 in the USA. My Sweet Lord reached No. 1 again on both sides of the Atlantic, on its re-release following Harrison's death in November 2001.
John Lennon's first two post-Beatles hits were credited to the Plastic Ono Band. The first was Give Peace a Chance, released on 4 July 1969. The song itself was written by Lennon, but credited to Lennon-McCartney - presumably because the Beatles hadn't officially split up, and their songwriting agreement was still in place. It reached No. 2 in the UK charts, kept out of the No. 1 spot by the Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Women.
Lennon did have three UK post-Beatles No 1 hits, but none in the UK in his lifetime.
Imagine was originally the title track of an LP, released in 1971. It was released as a single in most countries, reaching No. 1 in Australia, Canada and South Africa, and in the US Record Mirror chart - but only No. 3 in Billboard (and No. 2 in Cash Box). It was only released as a single in the UK in 1975, to promote the compilation album Shaved Fish; it reached No. 6.
Following Lennon's assassination on 8 December 1980, there was the customary posthumous surge in sales of his records. (Just Like) Starting Over, a track from the Double Fantasy album, had been released as a single on 24 October, and it reached No. 1 on 20 December. It was replaced after one week by a novelty record, but two weeks later, Imagine finally made it to the No. 1 spot, where it stayed for four weeks. Imagine was replaced on 7 February by another single from the Double Fantasy album: Woman, which was released on 12 January 1981.
Double Fantasy was credited to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, but the two singles (Starting Over and Woman) were credited to Lennon alone.
My copy of the Guinness Book of Hit Singles (17th edition, 2004 - combined with the Album edition) is somewhat confusing about Imagine. It lists it being re-released in 1975, and reaching No. 1. This seems to be wrong on two counts: firstly, Imagine wasn't released as a single in the UK before 1975, and secondly, it suggests that it never left the charts between its first entry in November 1975 and reaching No. 1 in January 1981 (because the Guinness book normally lists re-entries separately, as well as re-releases). I find this rather hard to believe, and I wonder if the compilers have erroneously combined two entries. (Note to self: must get a more up-to-date edition of the GBOBHS!)
Starting Over also reached No. 1 in the USA. It was Lennon's second post-Beatles No. 1 in the USA, the other being Whatever Gets You Thru' the Night in 1974 (which peaked at No. 36 in the UK).
Paul McCartney's first solo release was Another Day, in February 1971. It reached No. 2 in the UK charts, kept off the No. 1 spot by Mungo Jerry's Baby Jump - which replaced My Sweet Lord at No. 1 on 28 February - and T. Rex's Hot Love. McCartney's next hit was Back Seat Of My Car, credited to Paul and Linda McCartney, which peaked at No. 39; his next 21 hits (taking him up to the end of the 1970s) were credited to either Wings or Paul McCartney and Wings. He has also reached No. 1 with Wings (Mull of Kintyre / Girls' School, 1977), and with Stevie Wonder (Ebony and Ivory, 1982). His only solo No. 1 in the UK was Pipes of Peace in 1983; he was also credited on the 1989 charity single Ferry Cross the Mersey (in aid of the Hillsborough Disaster Fund), which was a No. 1 hit.
Ringo Starr has had six solo hits in the UK, to date. The first five were all released between 1971 and 1974, and the sixth in 1992. The first four reached the Top Ten, but none of them reached No. 1. The first was It Don't Come Easy, released in April 1971; it reached No. 4. The second was Back Off Boogaloo, which reached No. 2 in April 1972 - Ringo's highest solo placing in the UK. His next two singles – Photograph (1973) and You're Sixteen (1974) – reached No. 1 in the USA, but only No. 4 and No. 8 respectively in the UK. Later in 1974, You're Sixteen peaked at No. 28; Ringo's only other UK hit has been Weight of the World, which reached No. 74 in 1992.
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