If you’ve been to London in the past few years, I guarantee that you went (or at least thought about going) to Abbey Road. 50 years ago, The Beatles took what would become the most iconic album cover of all time right outside their studios.
Since then, fans from around the world have flocked to the landmark to recreate it and see where it all happened. You know, for the gram.
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According to Richard Porter (a Beatles tour guide in London), the crossing attracts up to 200,000 people per year. With that amount of foot traffic, it’s no wonder that the paint would start to wear out.
While it’s been pretty difficult to find the right time to lay down some extra coats on this crosswalk, that all changed this week.
A municipal crew was able to repaint the crosswalk in front of Abbey Road Studios due to the low foot-traffic as a result of COVID-19 concerns. With self-isolation and social distancing sending Londoners inside and keeping tourists in their own countries, the place where the Beatles shot the cover of their 1969 album can finally look new again!
The area, which was designated a national landmark by the British government in 2010, is normally super busy, as you would assume.
If you’re ever intrigued as to how busy it is, there’s a LiveStream of it available to watch here. Interestingly, the photoshoot reportedly only took The Beatles 10 minutes to complete, but given the number of tourists that flock to the site every day, good luck getting your Insta shot done in that little time.
Last year, the album Abbey Road turned 50 years old! As a result of the 50th anniversary, there were approximately 3,500 people that made their way to Abbey Road for a snapshot, including people in costume and one Paul McCartney cosplayer who proposed to his girlfriend.
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