Beatle mania

It was a news item that would only have made sense on April 1. And a few days later, it was still a bad joke.

The news on Wednesday that James McCartney, Sean Lennon, Dhani Harrison and Jason Starkey - sons of the four original Beatles - might form a band was received with a mixture of incredulity and ridicule by music fans and critics alike.

Indeed, history is against The Beatles 2.0 being anything but a massive disappointment. The world of celebrity is littered with cautionary tales of children who have foolishly attempted to emulate their famous parents.

Marlon Brando's son Christian played bit roles in made-for-TV shows, before being jailed for shooting his sister's boyfriend (and passing away in 2008). Pele, arguably the greatest footballer in history, was followed by his son Edinho who did not progress beyond being a reserve goalkeeper for his father's club Santos. Edinho, too, ended up in the clink.

Like many others, they may have enjoyed the benefits of nepotism, but they soon discovered that talent is not necessarily hereditary. There is an irony that many successful figures, including the The Beatles, are themselves often children of parents who had modest talents at best.

Nature's law of averages, thankfully, does not show favouritism it seems, even if your father played in The Beatles. Here come the sons? Let's hope not.