With their trademark moptop haircuts and matching tailored suits, The Beatles were known as the “Fab Four,” leading what became known as the British Invasion in the early ‘60s. Comprised of John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney—The Beatles would arguably become the most influential and appealing rock and roll group of all time.
Lennon started his first band, The Quarrymen, from which The Beatles would eventually evolve. In 1957, he met Paul McCartney, who joined the group on vocals and guitar. Next came George Harrison, also on guitar. In 1958, The Quarrymen became Johnny and the Moondogs; then for a brief time in 1960, the trio called themselves The Silver Beatles before dropping “Silver” from the name, becoming simply The Beatles. Stuart Sutcliffe, Lennon’s friend from college, joined on bass in 1959, though McCartney filled his spot when, in 1961, Sutcliffe decided to return to art school full time. At this point, The Beatles still included Pete Best, the band’s drummer since 1960. The manager of a local record store, Brian Epstein, took an interest in the foursome and convinced them to sharpen up their bad-boy image—they were sporting an unclean, leather-clad look—in favor of a more tailored, wholesome uniformity. After becoming The Beatles’ manager in 1962, Epstein doggedly pursued his music industry contacts. However, the auditions he arranged for the band were leading nowhere until later that year when a tryout with producer George Martin led to a contract with the British label Parlophone. It was also at this time that Best, according to Martin’s recommendation, was replaced with the more congenial Ringo Starr.

Within weeks of this final adjustment to the band’s lineup, The Beatles recorded their premiere singles, “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You.” Their first album, Please Please Me (1963), was an overwhelming success, staying on top of the British charts for an unprecedented 30 weeks. An appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 triggered “Beatlemania”—the generally hysterical and screaming hoards of fans that met the group wherever they appeared. It also opened the floodgate for the British Invasion that included the likes of The Rolling Stones, Cream (featuring Eric Clapton), and the Animals.

Throughout their career as a group, The Beatles starred in and produced several films.

A Hard Day’s Night (1964) documents a day in the life of the band at the height of the Beatlemania phenomenon, while showcasing the group’s musical talent with seven McCartney/Lennon classics, including the title song, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and “She Loves You.” Their next film, a James Bond spoof titled Help! (1965), features Starr as the target of a cult from which the band must try to rescue him. The soundtrack to this film also launched a number of hits, including “You’re Going to Lose that Girl” and “Ticket to Ride.”

The Beatles dominated the music charts throughout the ‘60s, as no group had ever done before or since. In April 1964, months after their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the five best-selling singles and two best-selling albums on the U.S. charts belonged to The Beatles. In 1966, during the height of their popularity, Lennon infuriated religious groups in the United States when he casually asserted that The Beatles had become bigger than Jesus Christ. Demonstrations throughout the Bible Belt—in which Beatles LPs were burned—led Lennon to apologize for the remark. The band’s final concert was held on August 29, 1966, in San Francisco. Fueling rumors of a break-up, Beatles members asserted thereafter that they simply wanted to focus on recording. The rumors were not far off, however, as tensions between Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison were mounting and each was moving in a different direction artistically.

In August 1967, Brian Epstein died from an overdose of sleeping pills. The death was initially deemed a suicide but later ruled accidental. That same year, The Beatles produced and starred in Magical Mystery Tour, a television film that critics dismissed as an inept failure; moreover, reflecting the overall disorganization and lack of control in which their manager’s death had left the band. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) was in many ways the band’s break-through album—critically speaking—in which The Beatles achieved a new level of musical maturity. The album cohesively blends such various styles as psychedelia (“Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”), classical (“She’s Leaving Home”), and Eastern spiritualism (“Within You Without You”). Their musical style continued to evolve with the grittier The Beatles (White Album) (1968). Let It Be (recorded in 1969, released in 1970) received mixed but generally good reviews. Abbey Road, the group’s final joint effort, was released in September 1969, although The Beatles had more or less disbanded many months earlier. Each member pursued his own solo career with varying degrees of success, though no individual ever reached the popular heights enjoyed by the group as a whole.

Ringo Starr’s initial efforts as a solo artist produced the albums Sentimental Journey and Beacoups of Blues, a country music collection.

Of his most successful hits, the single “It Don’t Come Easy” (1971) made it to the top 10, and his singles “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen” from the 1973 album Ringo were both number one hits. George Harrison’s first solo recording, All Things Must Pass (1970), as well as the single “Oh Sweet Lord” from the same album, made it to number one. Not until 1987 did he top the charts again, this time with a remake of Rudy Clark’s “Got My Mind Set on You.” In 1988, he formed The Traveling Wilburys with Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Bob Dylan. “Handle With Care,” from the group’s first album, was a minor hit.

Of all The Beatles, Paul McCartney was the most commercially successful. He married Linda Eastman in March 1969, and with her he formed the group Wings, which had considerable—if not critical—commercial success throughout the next 10 years. During the first 12 years of his solo career, McCartney had nine singles that reached number one in the United States and England, including “Maybe I’m Amazed” (1970), “Jet” (1973), “Silly Love Songs” (1976), and “With a Little Luck” (1978). Of the seven albums that also topped the charts during this same period were Band on the Run (1973) and London Town (1978). His collaborations with other artists included the chart toppers “Ebony and Ivory” (1982) with Stevie Wonder; and “The Girl is Mine” (1982), and “Say Say Say” (1983) with Michael Jackson.

In 1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono, a conceptual artist and musician he’d met at an art gallery in 1967. Following the break-up of the Beatles, Ono and Lennon collaborated extensively. They formed the Plastic Ono Band, a gritty demonstration of what Lennon called “noise therapy.” He concentrated on a solo career as well, and in 1971, he once again topped the music charts with Imagine. Hit singles included “Instant Karma” (1970) and “Mind Games” (1973). His 1980 co-release (with Yoko Ono) of Double Fantasy was also a critical and commercial success, spawning several hits: “Woman,” “Watching Wheel,” and “(Just Like) Starting Over.”

Tragically, on December 8, 1980, Lennon was shot and killed by Mark Chapman, a deranged fan, outside his apartment building in New York City, his death halting any anticipation for a Beatles reunion. In 1995, The Beatles Anthology came out, featuring previously unreleased tracks, including two of Lennon’s solo works, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” And in April 2003, the band's five-disc Anthology DVD set, containing previously unreleased jam sessions of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, became the biggest-selling debut ever for a music DVD box set.

The Beatles are still heavily played on radio stations worldwide, and the band’s legacy continues to have an immeasurable effect on present day pop music.

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