The life of an international rock star is not all glitz and glamour, and back in the 1960's, life on the road could be quite demanding.
Even mega groups like the Beatles faced some interesting challenges during their tours. On one particular occasion in 1964, where the Beatles were schedule to play at the Forum in Montreal, Canada, things got a little hairy for the group.
Ringo Starr, the group's drummer, received death threats from French-Canadian separatists leading to the authorities laying on police sharpshooters and armed plain clothed body guards for the group. One body guard actually sat next to Ringo on stage as they group played. Ringo was reportedly quite amused by his guard, wondering what exactly he would do in the event of a sniper taking a shot at him.
Nobody was quite sure why Ringo was targeted. Ringo's own interpretation was that they wanted to make an example out of him as a British Jew. The only problem with the logic being that Ringo was not Jewish.
Still, the band played to 21,000 screaming fans that night and emerged unscathed from the Canadian tour. It seems some people will do anything to get a little publicity, and if this means threatening an international star then that's what they will do.
