If You Could Be A Famous Rock Star Knowing It Would Be For Just Two Weeks Would You Still Do It?

Imagine you're an unknown who joins the biggest band in the world only to be thrown back into obscurity just two weeks later.

For a man named Jimmie Nicol, that's exactly what happened.

A recent article by ultimateclassicrock.com called "13 Days as a Beatle: The Sad History of Jimmie Nicol" tells the story of an unknown drummer who was asked to replace an ill Ringo Starr for a series of tour dates in June of 1964.

For Nicol, however, he became somewhat deluded into thinking that maybe, just maybe, he'd be asked to become the permanent replacement for Starr and continue to revel in the excesses of the rock 'n' roll life. That never happened, of course. In fact, Nicol was out of The Beatles and sent back down to Earth in a mere 13 days.

Nicol went on to form two solo bands shortly after but neither took off. He wound up bankrupt, divorced, became estranged from his son and ended up living in his mother's basement.

After another failed attempt at reviving his career with a band called The Spotnicks in the mid 60s, Nicol was nowhere to be found. He hasn't spoken to the media in a decade and his son is not even sure if his father is alive or dead.

Reading the article had me thinking. We've often heard the statement that it's better to have loved and lost than to never have fallen in love at all. How about: Is it better to have been a famous rock star for just two weeks and lost it all then to have never been a famous rock star at all?

Tough call I suppose. Hindsight is 20/20. Knowing what happened to Nicol makes it easier to say it would be better to not have joined the band. But try and put yourself in his shoes in June of '64. Would you say 'No' to that? Not me.