The Threetles

The Threetles is the friendship between Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Richard Starkey from The Beatles fandom.

Canon
While Paul and George had known each other from their early teens back in 1956, they would meet Richard, going by his stage name Ringo, 4 years later during their stay in Hamburg. Ringo was with his group, and would share bills with Paul and George’s group. Paul and George would later state that Ringo seemed a bit intimidating at first glances, but was a nice guy when they got to know him. The three were all Teddy Boys, and deeply interested in rock and roll, with them becoming friends, as well as John. The first time they ever worked together was in a small recording session back in Liverpool.

After the idea of dismissing Pete from the band, Paul and George recommended Ringo to fill his space, accepting him almost immediately as a fellow band member. They stood up for him during studio sessions, where it was suggested that he might only perform on stage and not in the studio. After the main success and breakthrough of the band, the two fully accepted Ringo as a friend along with John, and they grew closer. George was the closest to Ringo of the two, since the two were considered extras in the way of John and Paul, but Paul also remained on strong terms. After Ringo contracted tonsillitis and the band continued on tour without him, the two would later speak of the injustice done, as if it were anyone else, the tour would have been cancelled completely.

The three remained on strong terms as the years went on, even after the band’s breakup. The only broken string in this was George having an affair with Ringo’s wife Maureen, which exploded into a temporary hatred of the two, and Paul offering Ringo some help in getting over the situation. Despite the three’s tensions rising, Paul and George contributed to Ringo’s self-titled album Ringo, and were on positive terms again. George would even help Ringo find a new romance, while Paul assisted the two musically. After John’s death, they were the only remaining Beatles, and were thrown into a minor panic.

The years went by, and the three became more close-knitted than they were before, visiting each other more often and assisting in several projects. In 1995, the trio started working on an Anthology duo after finding some of John’s old recordings. The media started to nickname them the Threetles, due to them creating what would be considered the newest Beatles songs in almost three decades. In 2000, the three worked together again on a compilation album, 1. Shortly after the creation of the album, in 2001, George would die, leaving just Paul and Ringo.

Fanon
As a friendship, it’s a mildly popular ship. Fans normally see them as best friends, as they were, and AUs include the Alive AU. Most fanfictions between the three take place in the 60s or 90s. There are some who do treat it as a poly ship but romantically it’s a rare pair. For the most part, the variations are more popular, with McHarrison, Starrison and McStarr being more popular.

Fandom
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Variations

 * McHarrison refers to the ship between Paul and George
 * McStarr refers to the ship between Paul and Richard
 * The Beatles refers to the ship between the three and John Lennon
 * Starrison refers to the ship between George and Richard