Dickson, TN — The Beatles are coming to Dickson! The WannaBeatles, that is.

In the wake of the London Olympics and all things British, The Renaissance Center will celebrate one of Great Britain's most beloved exports, The Beatles, as the 2012 calendar marks the 50 year anniversary of The Beatles! Joining in on the fun are The WannaBeatles, one of the best Beatles tribute bands in the country, for a concert and Beatles-related activities scheduled for Saturday, August 25 at 7 p.m. Pre-concert activities include several musical acts in the Center's rotunda and showing of Laser Beatles in the Cybersphere Digital Theatre.

Led by Grammy Award-winning musician, composer and producer Dennis Scott, who plays guitar, synthesizer and vocals, the WannaBeatles include three other very talented and award-winning musicians: Bryan Cumming on saxophone, flute, guitar and vocals; Nathan Burbank on keyboards, bass and vocals; and David Toledo on drums, percussion and vocals. In addition to great music of all the Beatles' hits from every era, there will be special guests and entertainment as well as the premiere of the "Oh, Betty!" video, a song tribute to Betty White who beat the WannaBeatles in their quest for a Grammy Award. The WannaBeatles performed in an Ed Sullivan Show-Beatles Anniversary Concert at The Renaissance Center last February, and, despite terrible winter weather, the show sold out and was a big hit with audiences of all ages.

Opening the August 25 show is Tom Shinness, a singer, multi-instrumentalist, session player and songwriter/composer. Tom has released six CDs of instrumental work and his newest CD is "Translucent Harp," featuring the harpguitar, which has both guitar and harp/bass strings. Members of The Renaissance Center's strings program will join instructor Mary Johnson in accompanying the WannaBeatles on the song "Eleanor Rigby," which originally featured a double-string quartet of four violins, two cellos and two violas arranged by record producer George Martin.

Although they first formed two years before, 1962 marks the official anniversary of the Beatles. In August 1962, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison hired Ringo Starr to replace Pete Best on drums, and they soon were nicknamed the Fab Four. Two months later, on October 5, their first single, "Love Me Do," was released and 'Beatlemania' soon swept the U.K. "Love Me Do" made it to No. 17 on the U.K. record charts and their second single, "Please, Please Me" was released on Jan. 11, 1963 and hit No. 1 on Feb. 22, 1963. Although they broke up in 1970, the Beatles are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music, and all four members continued on with successful music careers. John Lennon was murdered in 1980, and George Harrison died of cancer in 2001. Over the years there have been many rumors of a Beatles reunion, most recently reports that Ringo Starr would join Paul McCartney at the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London.

To learn more about the upcoming Beatles 50th anniversary concert at the Renaissance Center, visit www.rcenter.org.