Abbey Road at 50: Beatles fans gather to celebrate anniversary of iconic album cover

Dozens of people took their turn on the famous zebra crossing

It’s been 50 years since The Beatles were photographed on the Abbey Road zebra crossing, and today hundreds of enthusiasts gathered there to celebrate the landmark anniversary.

The classic album cover shows John Lennon in a white suit leading the band across the road outside EMI Recording Studios with Ringo Starr wearing a black suit and Paul McCartney walking barefoot, out of step and holding a cigarette.

George Harrison can be seen dressed in blue denim while a Volkswagen Beetle is parked in the background.

A John Lennon impersonator arrives in style at the North London recording studios (Getty Images)

Today, the Beetle was back in position while traffic crawled along the crowded street. Meanwhile, dozens of fans paraded on the black-and-white painted crossing for souvenir photos.

Just six shots of the group were taken by Scottish photographer Iain Macmillan in 1969, and the fifth was used as the cover for the band’s 11th studio album, released on 26 September 1969.

(Getty (Getty)

It was the last album to be recorded by all four members of the band together, and had tracks written by each member, including “Come Together” by Lennon, “Here Comes the Sun” by Harrison, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” by McCartney and Starr’s “Octopus’s Garden”.

The studios were later renamed Abbey Road and – along with the zebra crossing – were granted protected status by the governme​nt in 2010.