Interestingly, it was Paul McCartney whom Maureen first kissed that was a Beatle. Her friend bet her she couldn't kiss Paul. Maureen was determined, as she fought her way back the band's dressing room, in which she kissed Paul. Her friend started to cry. Even then, Maureen still liked her "Ritchie" best. She then waited until Ringo came out, and she kissed him. It was three weeks later that Ringo took any notice to her. To this day, Ringo still doesn't remember his first meeting with Maureen as she does. They regularly went out together after that, with Maureen's friend. Maureen didn't want her friend to be offended, but she was in the way. Maureen always went to the Cavern Club to watch the Beatles perform. It was dangerous to be a Beatle fan at the time. Maureen on the Beatles' girl fans:
"They (the girls) used to hang around the Cavern all day long, just on the off cance of seeing them. They'd come out of the lunchtime session and just stand outside all afternoon, queuing up for the evening. Ritchie and I once went past at midnight and they were already queuing up for the next day....The object was to get as near the front row as possible, so that they could see the Beatles, and be seen. I never joined the queue till about two or three hours before the Cavern opened. It frightened me. There would be fights and rows among the girls. When the doors opened the first ones would tear in, knocking each other over. They'd keep their rollers in and jeans on for the first groups. Then when it got near the time for the Beatles to come on, itf there was a gang of four say, they would go off in turns to the lavatory with their little cases to get changed and made up. So when the Beatles came on they'd look smashing, as if they'd just arrived. I suppose it was partly sex and partly the music. That was the attraction. They were obviously dying to be noticed and get to know one of them. But no, it was really just everything about being there. It was terrible, the mad screams when they came on....
It got so bad for Maureen once that she almost got killed by a fan of Ringo's who figured out she was going out with him. When the Beatles became household names throughout the world, the 16-year-old hairdresser assistant's name was always one of the names linked to Ringo. The two went on vacation with Paul, and his new girlfriend, Jane Asher to the Virgin Islands. This was the first time that Ringo had broguht Maureen into such a place where the press would inevitably follow them. Before this time, Ringo's name was linked with Ann-Maraget, Hayley Mills, and Tuesday Weld.
Maureen's father on the holiday: "It really did not surprise my wife or myself when we learned she was half way across the world. In any case it wouldn't have made any difference. I would have given her permission anyway. Maureen is a sensible girl and well able to take care of herself."
Maureen soon got pregnant, and therefore, the "right thing to do" was to marry Ringo. They were soon married in 1965, Maureen only 18, with John, Cynthia, George and Brian in attendance. Ringo wanted to settle down with Maureen and spend time with his new son, Zak, but being a Beatle , this was not a possible option. This might have led to the inevitable end of the 10-year marriage, which two more childern were born, Jason and Lee. During the whole marriage, Maureen was always concerned about Ringo's infidelities, but it was Ringo who insisted on the divorce. The grounds of divorce were Ringo's affair to an American model.
Cynthia: "We've shared life's ups and downs, with the Beatles, and without."
Soon after the divorce, Maureen married Isaac Tigrett. He is well-known as one of the original owners of the Hard Rock Cafe, and currently owns the House Of Blues. Maureen was a proud grandparent soon, with son Zak having a child, and also became a parent again, herself. Her daughter was born in 1987, named Augusta. Maureen and Isaac lived in L.A. and also had a home in Boston. She put her past behind with Ringo, and was living very happily. That was the way it was supposed to be, at least. At an opening of the House Of Blues in L.A, Maureen suddenly passed out. What started as a diagonise of being an anemic turned into a deadly diagonise of a form of luekemia known as mylodysplasia. She was quickly moved in October of 1995 to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. They did all they could, but it was a losing battle for her life. Her son, Zak, tried to help out by being the donor for a bone-marrow transplant, white blood-ceels and blood platelets. But Maureen had a serious fungal infection that could not be cured. On December 30, 1994, Maureen died at the young age of 47. Her husband, Zak, Jason, Lee, her mother and Ringo were surrounding her as she quietly died.
Dan Aykroyd, a friend and godfather to Augusta:"Maureen was a loving individual. She will be missed."
