A: Pete Best had been the original drummer for an upstart Liverpool group called the Silver Beetles when he was sacked in favor of another, more experienced drummer named Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr.
As fate would have it, the Silver Beetles changed their name to the Beatles and went on to become the best-known group in the history of rock 'n' roll. It happened like this: Best's mom, who ran the Casbah Club in Liverpool, was the Silver Beetles' initial booking agent, and landed them a two-month gig in Hamburg.
But while in Germany, the young group happened upon Ringo, and when they returned to London both Paul McCartney and George Harrison asked their new manager, Brian Epstein, to get rid of Best.
So on August 23, 1962, poor Pete found out that he was no longer a Beatle; and although he later sued Ringo for libel, he received nothing for his early years with the band. Today he tours with his own group (he even put out an album under the deceptive title Best of the Beatles) and, although he freely discusses his dismissal, he doesn't accept the prevailing theories on why the decision was made (Ringo's superior drumming, McCartney's jealousy, his own unreliability, etc.
).
For the Beatles, there's no arguing that things worked out for the best; but for Best himself, things could've been better.
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