John Lennon's Drunken On-Stage Toilet Humour

John Lennon was once so drunk during an early Beatles gig, he graced the stage dressed only in his underwear - with a toilet seat hanging around his neck.

Sir Paul McCartney reveals his late bandmate became a little too merry after performing three shows in one night in Hamburg, Germany - without realising the band was slated to play a fourth set.

A near-naked Lennon performed the gig in a drunken haze with the help of a bizarre accessory - but McCartney insists the Fab Four were tame compared to their contemporaries.

He tells Shortlist magazine, "(There was) plenty of wildness back then, (but we were a) fairly sober lot compared to some of the guys. We were so knackered, working the amount that we did, that we mainly slept.

"Occasionally, you'd think you had three shows in the evening and after the third you might party down a bit.

"Then you were told you'd got four. So I do remember John coming on once in his underpants with a toilet seat around his neck."

Meanwhile in related news Lennon's Lyrics Fetch $1.2 Million At Auction John Lennon's handwritten lyrics for the Beatles song A DAY IN THE LIFE have sold for a staggering $1.2 million (£800,000) at an auction in New York.

Lennon's scrawled notes were purchased by a private American collector, who bid by phone at the Sotheby's sale on Friday (18Jun10).

The double-sided sheet of paper features the late star's edits and corrections, written in black felt marker and blue ball point pen, with annotations in red ink.

Pre-sale estimates predicted the item would only sell for between $500,000 (£333,330) and $800,000 (£533,300).

A Day in the Life was featured on the Beatle's Grammy-winning 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.