A Paul McCartney fan proclaiming her love for the Beatles went viral in 1964. We tracked her down.
“ I don’t care what people think! I will love the Beatles forever. Even when I’m 105 and an old grandmother, I’ll love themexclaims the young girl in the video. And Paul McCartney, if you’re listening, Adrienne from Brooklyn loves you with all her heart. I love you, Paul! And please come to the window so I can see you. I saw you smoking earlier and I kissed the limo you got out of. But I love you and I want you, Paul. And Ringo, you can go out too, because I like you. »
Adrienne’s video was taken by CBS News in 1964, when The Beatles visited the United States for the very first time. Although she has been making the rounds in Beatles fan circles for years, she was featured prominently in the documentary Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years, directed by Ron Howard in 2016, and began making the rounds on TikTok last year. On Friday, Sir Paul McCartney responded: “ Hey, Adrienne, it’s Paul. I saw your video. I’m in Brooklyn right now. I finally arrived. » The ex-Beatle announced an exhibition of photos of the Beatles at the Brooklyn Museum. Paul McCartney’s video went viral, with fans speculating in the comments about what had happened to Adrienne from Brooklyn, hoping she would stumble across the video.
@paulmccartney And Adrienne from Brooklyn if you are listening, Paul McCartney from Liverpool loves you too ❤️ 60 years after The Beatles arrived in New York on their first trip to America, Paul’s photographic record of ‘Beatlemania’ is now on display at @Brooklyn Museum ♬ original sound – Paul McCartney
Today, after reviewing photos and video footage, as well as public records verifying various biographical details, Rolling Stone can exclusively reveal what is most likely the identity of the real Adrienne from Brooklyn. Unfortunately, his story doesn’t deliver the ending fans were hoping for.
“ When I saw her, when I heard her, I said to myself “it’s mom” “, tells Nicole D’Onofrio Rolling Stone SATURDAY.
Mother of four from Staten Island, Nicole D’Onofrio saw the footage on TikTok with her seven-year-old daughter. She sent it to her three older siblings, including her brother John. “ It sounded like him, it was his voice, with his thick Brooklyn accentsays John, a retired New York police officer. We were like, “Oh my God, mom is Adrienne from Brooklyn.” »
Adrienne D’Onofrio was born on July 29, 1951, to a Swedish father and an Italian mother. According to John, her father died when she was 11, and she and her two older siblings were primarily raised by their mother in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, a predominantly Italian, middle-class neighborhood at the time.
John vividly remembers her telling him about sneaking out of school to watch the Beatles arrive in New York on their first trip to America, a moment which was filmed by the network CBS News. “ I remember her telling me she got on the train to see them, and it only cost five cents, and if you had 50 cents you could get a hot dog and a bag of cigarettes “, he says.
Adrienne met her husband, Harry, in high school. Together they had four children. In September 1992, a month before their 25th wedding anniversary, Adrienne was diagnosed with lymphoma. “ The doctor told her she had stage 4 cancer and she gave upsays John. It was the end. She didn’t even have the chance to undergo radiotherapy. [Elle] called me and left me a voicemail: Johnny, I’m dying. It was terrible. »
At the end of October of the same year, Adrienne and Harry celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. In images from the party, she appears frail but happy in a white fur coat, with her hair cut short. A few days later, John says she developed pneumonia and was taken to Lutheran Hospital, where she fell into a coma. She died in 1992, at the age of 41.
After Adrienne died, the siblings say they found all of their mother’s old Beatles records in the closet. John says that on one of them, “ Adrienne and Paul » was scrawled on the cover, with a heart drawn around it. Adrienne had also given her niece commemorative Beatles coins celebrating their trip to the United States in 1964, photos of which were released to Rolling Stone.
The D’Onofrios know that there is no sure way to confirm the identity of “Adrienne from Brooklyn.” They also know that the tragic end of Adrienne’s life is not what Beatles fans expected. On the other hand, Adrienne’s children know that there is perhaps no better testament to her mother’s short life than a 60-year-old viral video. For Nicole in particular, who is currently battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, coming across the video is like “ receive a message from mom who comes back saying: Look, I’m here, I’m watching over you “, explains John. Adrienne from Brooklyn may not have lived to become a 105-year-old grandmother, but somehow her teenage love for Paul will survive much longer.
EJ Dickson
Translated by the editorial staff
