photo of the Hard Day’s Night hotel before the fire/photo credit: Christopher Furlong, Getty Images

About 20 paintings inspired by the Beatles perished in a fire at the Hard Days Night Hotel – a Beatles-themed hotel in the United Kingdom last week.

According to BBC News, the fire started on the fifth floor of the four-star hotel, located near a Liverpool nightclub that helped The Beatles rise to fame. There were no reported injuries, but reports say the paintings worth possibly $20,000 and created by Howell, NJ, artist, Shannon MacDonald -once dubbed by Liverpool’s mayor as the ‘world’s greatest Beatles artist’ include two wall-sized pieces dedicated to Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

MacDonald told NJ.com that each painting took two years to create and a dozen years to plan. Her works are also featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

– Lauren L. Sullivan, WOGL, Philadelphia