The Beatles performed their last public concert in 1966. The concert took place on August 29 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California, during the final date of their last North American tour.
The group had grown increasingly frustrated with touring. Stadium audiences were enormous, but screaming fans often made it difficult for the musicians to hear themselves, while increasingly complex studio recordings were becoming harder to reproduce onstage. Security concerns, hostile reactions, and exhausting travel added to the pressure.
The Candlestick Park performance was not publicly announced as a farewell at the time. The Beatles played an eleven-song set that included “Rock and Roll Music,” “Yesterday,” “Paperback Writer,” and “Long Tall Sally.” Publicist Tony Barrow recorded part of the concert, reportedly at Paul McCartney's request, giving the band an informal audio keepsake of its touring era.
The year can be confused with 1969 because the Beatles later made an unannounced rooftop performance at Apple Corps in London. That famous event was a brief public appearance, not a conventional ticketed concert. Candlestick Park remains the standard answer for their final public concert.