The Fab Four (tribute)

The Fab Four is a California tribute band, later theatrical production paying homage to the Beatles. They are based in Orange County, California. Founded in November 1997 by Westminster-born John Lennon impersonator Ron McNeil (born Ronald Mendonça), and Los Angeles-born Paul McCartney impersonator Ardavan Sarraf, the group began performing Beatles music throughout Southern California and later the United States West Coast.^[1] They have played in many places worldwide, including Japan, Malaysia, France, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Mexico, and Brazil, covering nearly the entire Beatles songbook and material from some of the Beatles' members' solo projects.

The Fab Four
(From left to right) Ardavan Sarraf (Paul McCartney), Erik Fidel (Ringo Starr), Gavin Pring (George Harrison), and Ron McNeil (John Lennon) in 2012 in their PBS award winning special.
Background information
Also known as	The Ultimate Tribute
Origin	Orange County, California
Genres	Rock and roll rock pop Beatlesque
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Delta Ent. (Laserlight), New World Digital
Awards	Emmy Awards
Members	Ardavan Sarraf Ron McNeil Adam Hastings Gavin Pring Jonathan Fickes Neil Candelora Robbie Berg Erik Fidel Richard Lewis Miles Frizzell Gilbert Bonilla Chris Colon Joshua Jones Joseph Bologna Doug Couture Tyson Kelly Rolo Sandoval Brendan Peleo Lazar Michael Amador Luis Renteria Frankee Mendonça
Past members	David Brighton Graham Alexander Frank Canino Jim Owen Joe Gallo Steve Landes John Auker Steve Craig Tony Felicetta
Website	www.TheFabFour.com

The show is a faithfully detailed chronological history of the Beatles from their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show to their breakup in 1970, with about three to four costume changes with a 15-minute intermission in between in a regular show. The show has brief on-stage banter and interactions with the audience directly, otherwise the show has very little dialogue, with the show mainly reenacting songs that the Beatles performed live along with songs from the members' solo works after the break up, but some, like Sgt. Pepper's and Magical Mystery Tour, has songs the band itself never performed live. The band never uses pre-recorded tracks or a fifth member (the latter being in special performances), relying the members to use keyboards to produce background instruments in songs like Strawberry Fields Forever.^[2][3][4]

Since then, the Fab Four had became globally famous and received overwhelmingly critical acclaim from critics, audiences, and fans alike for it's faithful and authentic recreation of the Beatles' live performances, including playing songs the band never played live on stage along with never using pre-recorded tracks. The band has since been touring across the nation and Canada, sometimes occasionally performing out of the country. The band is considered by several news outlets and critics to be one of the best Beatles tribute bands of all time,^[5][6][7][8] with their main competitor being Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles.^[9]

According to the Los Angeles Times, the band was nicknamed "The Best Beatles Show in The World."^[10]

History

Formation and early touring years

In pre-1997, McNeil and his friends Michael Amador and Rolo Sandoval formed The Fab Four after noticing then 25 year old Ardavan "Ardy" Sarraf perform "Coming Up" impersonating as Paul McCartney during a sound alike competition at a music convention in Los Angeles as a tribute to the Beatles. “He sounded so much like Paul my hair stood up on the back of my neck,” he says. “I couldn’t believe it.” Sarraf, a natural right-hander, taught himself to play the bass guitar left-handed to emulate McCartney.^[11][12]

McNeil said when he asked Sarraf about joining his band, at first he declined. However, after many phone calls conversations, he said yes. According to McNeil in an email interview, the original members of the band (including McNeil and Sarraf) were in separate bands before forming The Fab Four.^[13]

McNeil, Sandoval, and Sarraf then recruited musician David Brighton to portray George Harrison and formed The Fab Four, which McNeil nicknamed "The Ultimate Beatles Tribute Band."^[1] The band's beginnings included Tuesday night performances at a small 50s-60s venue called Music City in Fountain Valley, a weekend residency at Disneyland's Tomorrowland Terrace in Anaheim from 1998 to 2005,^[14] The Hop in Puente Hills, and Scruffy O’Sheas in Marina del Rey.^[15]

In 1998, Brighton left the band to become an David Bowie impersonator. Amador took his place before leaving to work backstage and later their manager in 2009, leaving Liverpool-born Gavin Pring, then 31, to take his place.^[16] In 2011, Sandoval retired from the band, but still works backstage as a sound engineer and sometimes fills in for Starr; he was replaced by Sacramento-born Erik Fidel, then 21. Fidel does not have a big nose but takes 90 minutes to put on a prosthetic.^[12]

Las Vegas residency and rotating cast

From 2005 to 2008, the Fab Four brought in a second cast of musicians to help perform a full stage residency six nights a week in Las Vegas, with various members alternating between the cast. Performing as Fab Four Mania, the Vegas cast performed regularly at locations such as the Las Vegas Hilton,^[17] The Aladdin,^[18] The Sahara^[19][20] and The Riviera.^[21] Notable members of the cast included Joseph Bologna as Starr, who formerly performed with Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles on Broadway and 1964: The Tribute, Steve Landes as Lennon, formerly a cast member of Beatlemania, and Frankee Mendonça as McCartney, McNeil's younger brother. Shortly after 2008, the original cast (McNeil, Sarraf, Amador, and Sandoval) started to tour nationwide and occasionally performed out of country.

PBS special and later touring years

In 2013, the PBS special "The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute," (starring McNeil, Sarraf, Pring, and Fidel) filmed at Pechanga Resort & Casino on January 6, 2012, received an regional Emmy Award for "Special Events Coverage". Dr. Travis Fox, who directed the special, received the Emmy on their behalf, as the band didn't attend the ceremony. The band, along with Amador and Sandoval, showed the Emmy award on their social media pages.^[22][23][24]

In 2018, McNeil said "After 25 years, I want to be home a little more. But I'm still president of the company, and everybody who started this with me are still my business partners, even though only Ardy's still on stage. So it'll be carrying on, which is great." He anointed Newcastle-born Adam Hastings (originally from the Bootleg Beatles) as his replacement, though he does come back to perform whenever Hastings isn't available.^[25] From January 2018 to March 2020, the regular lineup consisted of Sarraf (McCartney), Hastings (Lennon), Pring (Harrison), and Bologna (Starr).

Pandemic and recent years

From 2020 to 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fab Four live-streamed numerous concerts, with McNeil, Sandoval, and Fidel coming back. From late 2020-2022, the lineup consisted of McNeil (Lennon), Sarraf (McCartney), Pring (Harrison), and Sandoval (Starr).

Starting in late 2020, as the lockdown was slowing down, the band started to tour nationwide and occasionally performed out of country, with most of the members rotating and performing whether the core actor is out sick or is on vacation starting in 2021. As of 2025, the regular lineup consisted of McNeil (Lennon), Sarraf (McCartney), Pring (Harrison), and Fidel (Starr).

The cast

From 1998 to 2010, the Fab Four originally had four members all from Southern California, they were:

• Ron McNeil as John Lennon
• Ardy Sarraf as Paul McCartney
• Michael Amador as George Harrison
• Rolo Sandoval as Ringo Starr

Since 2010, the Fab Four has had a rotating cast. As of 2025, the members currently part of the Fab Four's regular rotation are:

• Ron McNeil, Adam Hastings, and Jon Fickes as John Lennon
• Ardy Sarraf, Neil Candelora, and Miles Frizzell as Paul McCartney
• Gavin Pring, Robbie Berg^{[nb 1]}, and Chris Colon as George Harrison
• Erik Fidel and Joe Bologna as Ringo Starr

George Trullinger and Jeff DeHart portray Ed Sullivan as the MC of Fab Four shows, in reference to the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. The first actor to portray Sullivan was Jerome Patrick "Jerry" Hoban, who was best known for playing Sullivan in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Hoban died in May 2015; the Fab Four dedicated the song "In My Life" to him from 2015 until 2022. In September 2023, the Fab Four's first manager, Mike Dixon, died.^[26] "In My Life" was dedicated to him in subsequent concerts during the group's 2023 Rubber Soul tour.

Side projects

The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute

The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute is a PBS TV show musical special that was aired on various PBS stations nationwide in the summer of 2012 that lasted an hour long. The lineup included McNeil as Lennon, Sarraf as McCartney, Pring as Harrison, and Fidel as Starr. The special was filmed at Pechanga Resort & Casino in January 2012.^[27][28][29] The special received critical acclaim from critics and audiences for capturing it's "note-to-note, uncanny renditions of the Beatles' classics live on stage", receiving a rating of 7.5/10 on IMDb.^[30] The special was a major factor in the Fab Four's global success, which eventually receiving an Emmy award in 2013 for "Special Events Coverage", with Dr. Travis Fox, producer of the show, receiving the award on the band's behalf on the day of the ceremony, as the band could not attend.^[24] The band later presented their Emmy award on their social media pages.

Fab Four Mania

Fab Four Mania was a theatrical residency that lasted from 2005 to 2008, performing various shows at several resorts in the Las Vegas strip. As the Fab Four was becoming popular throughout the US West Coast (mainly California), they signed a four-year contract with Las Vegas to perform a full show six nights a week at various theaters, bringing the Fab Four to bring in several musicians to perform several shows a night, with some rotating each gig. The cast performed regularly at locations such as the Las Vegas Hilton,^[17] The Aladdin,^[18] The Sahara^[19][20] and The Riviera.^[21] The band's residency was successful and received positive reviews from critics, and was a major factor for the Fab Four's global success. Despite the production ending in 2008, the regular and soon rotating cast of the Fab Four sometimes returns to Vegas to perform.^[31]

Wingsband

Formed by Ardavan Sarraf, Wingsband is a Paul McCartney and Wings tribute act that covers many of McCartney's biggest post-Beatles hits. The band features Ron McNeil as Denny Laine, Michael Amador as Henry McCullough, and Rolo Sandoval as Joe English, plus a horn section led by Wendell Kelly (The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston) and singer/songwriter Christine Rosander as Linda McCartney. Both Laurence Juber, Wings guitarist from 1978 to 1981, and Denny Seiwell, the original Wings drummer from 1971 to 1973, have performed onstage with Wingsband at The Grove of Anaheim in Anaheim, CA. Juber also performed onstage with Wingsband for an encore in 2014.^[32][33]

George Harry's Son

George Harrison impersonator and Liverpool native, Gavin Pring, created a tribute act called George Harry's Son to celebrate Harrison's solo material, as well as his hits from the Beatle years. Pring has brought this act to the top Beatles music festivals, including the annual Beatleweek in Liverpool^[34] at the Mathew Street Festival and Abbey Road on the River in the United States.

The Monkee Men

In Summer of 2020, McNeil decided to form a Monkees tribute band as he was a fan of the band growing up. Calling it The Monkee Men, the band covers most of The Monkees' original songs and the show is interactive. The Monkee Men originally performed as an opening act for the Fab Four in 2023 before they independently started touring nationwide starting in 2025. The band's original and current touring cast consists of Frankee Mendonça as Davy Jones, Jon Fickes as Peter Tork, Doug Couture as Michael Nesmith, and Joshua Jones as Micky Dolenz, with McNeil and Matthew Hickman providing backup support as the "5th and 6th Monkees", respectively.^[35][36]

50 Summers of Love

In Summer of 2017, The Fab Four were approached by Micky Dolenz of The Monkees and Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders to perform a set of professional off-Broadway performances celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love for a nationwide tour called 50 Summers of Love from 2017 to 2018. Performing as the backup band, the performance first started with The Fab Four in their Sgt. Pepper's era before donning Raiders costumes, with Dolenz and Lindsay appearing to play both Monkees and Raiders hits, respectively. The lineup included McNeil as Lennon, Neil Candelora as McCartney, Couture as Harrison/Nesmith, and Bologna as Starr.^[37][38]

Rutlemania

In 2007, The Fab Four was approached by Eric Idle from the British comedy group Monty Python to perform a set of professional Off-Broadway shows celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Rutles, a Beatles parody group formed in 1975 by Idle and Neil Innes. The show, Rutlemania, featured McNeil as Ron Nasty (originally played by Innes), Sarraf as Dirk McQuickly (Idle), Amador as Stig O’Hara (Ricky Fataar) and Sandoval as Barry Wom (John Halsey), and was performed multiple nights in both Los Angeles^[39][40] and New York.^[41][42]

Yellow Submarine movie remake

In 2010, The Fab Four (McNeil, Sarraf, Pring, and Sandoval) was cast to do the motion-capture performance footage for director Robert Zemeckis' 3D remake of The Beatles animated film classic, Yellow Submarine. The movie was set to be released sometime in the summer of 2012 in time for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, but Disney canceled the project when Zemeckis' film Mars Needs Moms performed poorly in the box office and critics' reviews of Zemeckis' animations were mostly negative.^{[43][44][45][46][47]}

Notable appearances

• Opened for The Who at Carnegie Hall.^[48]
• Recorded Beatles tracks "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Please Please Me" and "Kansas City" that were featured in the biopic The Linda McCartney Story in 2000.^[49]
• Performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 2003 for the 37th anniversary of the Beatles’ concerts there.^[50]
• Performed at the official DVD release party for the Miramax edition of A Hard Day’s Night at the Los Angeles House of Blues in 2002.^[51]
• Featured as a headlining act during Liverpool’s annual Beatleweek in 2004, 2008 and 2011.^[52]
• Featured on many TV shows and channels, including Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning America, Hallmark Channel and Ellen DeGeneres’ Really Big Show in 2007.^[51][53]
• Performed at the Laugh Factory at Long Beach, California in 2008.^[54]
• Performed the motion capture for the Harmonix video game The Beatles: Rock Band in 2009. (McNeil, Sarraf, Pring, and Sandoval).^[27]
• Featured (McNeil, Sarraf, Pring, and Fidel) in their own PBS special called The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute, filmed at Pechanga Resort & Casino in January 2012.^[55]
• Met David Beckham in 2019.^[56]
• Performed at Dave Grohl's wedding in 2003.^[57]
• Performed at an unveiling of Madame Tussaud's Beatles wax figures, when the figures were brought to Las Vegas from London for a short exhibit in 2012.^[58]
• Performed (Kelly, Candelora, Couture, and Bologna) at the Dodgers Stadium in August 26th, 2016 at a pre game show before a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs in honour of the Beatles' 50th anniversary of performing at the stadium in 1966.^[59][60] They have also performed for Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully.^[61]
• Performed (McNeil, Sarraf, Pring, and Bologna) the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album in its entirety on The World's Greatest Tribute Bands on AXS TV, recorded live at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood in May 2017.^[62]
• Performed yearly at the OC Fair on the first weekend of August at the Pacific Amphitheatre, often performing the entirety of several Beatles albums such as Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour.^[63]
• Performed for Cynthia Lennon, Lennon's first wife, who said that the show "immediately brought back great memories."^[64]
• Performed (McNeil, Mendonça, Couture, Bologna, and Fickes) with Micky Dolenz in 2022. Four out of the five (McNeil, Mendonça, Couture, and Fickes) later became members of The Monkee Men.^[65]

Discography

• Ron McNeil – vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica
• Ardavan Sarraf – vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, guitar
• Michael Amador – vocals, lead guitar, keyboards, sitar
• Rolo Sandoval – vocals, drums, percussion

All songs were arranged, performed, recorded and produced by The Fab Four.

A Fab Four Christmas

Release Date - October 16, 2002
Label - Delta Ent. (LaserLight)

No.	Title	Based on	Length
1.	"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Johnny Marks)	"I Saw Her Standing There"
2.	"Joy to the World" (Lowell Mason)	"Please Please Me"
3.	"Feliz Navidad" (José Feliciano)	"And I Love Her"
4.	"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (Felix Mendelssohn)	"Help!"
5.	"Away in a Manger" (Traditional)	"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"
6.	"Good King Wenceslas" (John Mason Neale)	"Tell Me What You See"
7.	"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (Edmund Sears)	"Baby's in Black"
8.	"Winter Wonderland" (Felix Bernard / Richard B. Smith)	"Honey Don't"
9.	"Frosty the Snowman" (Walter E. Rollins / Steve Nelson)	"Mr. Moonlight"
10.	"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (Sammy Cahn / Jule Styne)	"Eight Days a Week"

Have Yourself a FAB-ulous Little Christmas

Release Date - October 16, 2002
Label - Delta Ent. (LaserLight)

No.	Title	Based on	Length
1.	"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (J. Fred Coots)	"When I'm Sixty Four"
2.	"Silent Night" (Franz Gruber)	"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"
3.	"The Christmas Song" (Mel Torme)	"Here, There and Everywhere"
4.	"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (Traditional)	"Within You, Without You"
5.	"The Little Drummer Boy" (Katherine Davis)	"Sun King"
6.	"Dear Santa" (Richard Starkey / Mark Hudson / Steve Dudas)	"Oh! Darling"
7.	"What Child Is This?" (William Chatterton Dix)	"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
8.	"Blue Christmas" (Billy Hayes)	"Revolution 1"
9.	"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (Johnny Marks)	"Got to Get You Into My Life"
10.	"Jingle Bells" (James Lord Pierpont)	"Tomorrow Never Knows"

HARK!

Release Date - 2008
Label - Robo Records

• In 2008, all songs from both albums were digitally remastered and released on a single album entitled HARK!,^[66] available on Amazon, iTunes and The Fab Four's official website. The compilation includes the bonus tracks "Sleigh Ride" and "The First Noel", in the style of "Lady Madonna" and "Let It Be", respectively.^[67]

The Ultimate Beatles Tribute in Concert, Vol. 1

Release Date - 2002/2011
Label - Self-released

• Recorded live at the Tomorrowland Terrace at Disneyland in the summer of 2001.^[68][69]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Twist and Shout (Short Version)" (Phil Medley / Bert Berns)
2.	"Please Please Me" (John Lennon / Paul McCartney)	2:06
3.	"All My Loving" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:12
4.	"I Want to Hold Your Hand" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:24
5.	"From Me to You" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:03
6.	"Love Me Do" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:27
7.	"Do You Want to Know a Secret" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:01
8.	"Boys" (Luther Dixon / Wes Farrell)	2:31
9.	"You Really Got a Hold on Me" (Smokey Robinson)	2:57
10.	"This Boy" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:25
11.	"A Hard Day's Night" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:32
12.	"I Should Have Known Better" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:51
13.	"If I Fell" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:18
14.	"Eight Days a Week" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:48
15.	"Can't Buy Me Love" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:12
16.	"Act Naturally" (Buck Owens)	2:41
17.	"Help!" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:20
18.	"Michelle" (Lennon / McCartney)	3:00
19.	"I Feel Fine" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:28
20.	"Yesterday" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:12
21.	"She Loves You" (Lennon / McCartney)	2:20
22.	"Roll Over Beethoven" (Chuck Berry)	2:38
23.	"I Saw Her Standing There" (Lennon / McCartney)	3:33
24.	"Twist and Shout" (Medley / Berns)	2:49
25.	"Outro" (N/A)

TV Special Soundtrack

Release Date - 2013
Label - Self-released

• The soundtrack to the PBS special The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute, recorded live at Pechanga Resort & Casino in January 2012. Available exclusively on CD at the Fab Four's official website.^[70]

Personnel

• Ron McNeil – Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Harmonica
• Ardavan Sarraf – Vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Guitar
• Gavin Pring – Vocals, Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Sitar
• Erik Fidel – Vocals, Drums, Percussion

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I Want to Hold Your Hand" (Lennon / McCartney)
2.	"All My Loving" (Lennon / McCartney)
3.	"A Hard Day's Night" (Lennon / McCartney)
4.	"Eight Days a Week" (Lennon / McCartney)
5.	"Can't Buy Me Love" (Lennon / McCartney)
6.	"Help!" (Lennon / McCartney)
7.	"She Loves You" (Lennon / McCartney)
8.	"I Saw Her Standing There" (Lennon / McCartney)
9.	"Twist and Shout" (Medley / Berns)
10.	"Yesterday" (Lennon / McCartney)
11.	"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (Lennon / McCartney)
12.	"With a Little Help From My Friends" (Lennon / McCartney)
13.	"Strawberry Fields Forever" (Lennon / McCartney)
14.	"Yellow Submarine" (Lennon / McCartney)
15.	"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" (Lennon / McCartney)
16.	"A Day in the Life" (Lennon / McCartney)
17.	"Imagine" (Lennon)
18.	"Here Comes the Sun" (George Harrison)
19.	"Get Back" (Lennon / McCartney)
20.	"Revolution" (Lennon / McCartney)
21.	"Hey Jude" (Lennon / McCartney)

Notes

1. Berg also occasionally performs as Lennon or McCartney.