The Beatles were one of the most successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. They were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. From 1962, the group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). The nature of their enormous popularity, which first emerged as "Beatlemania", transformed as their songwriting grew in sophistication.
Aged sixteen, John Lennon formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen, in March 1957. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a guitarist after he and John Lennon met that July. When Paul McCartney invited George Harrison to watch the group the following February, the fourteen-year-old joined as lead guitarist.
George Martin signed the group to EMI's Parlophone label. The band had their first recording session under Martin's direction at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London in June 1962. Initially, a five-piece line-up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe (bass) and Pete Best (drums), they built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960. Stuart Sutcliffe left the group in 1961, and Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr the following year.
In the wake of the moderate success of "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" met with a more emphatic reception, reaching number two on the UK singles chart after its January 1963 release. Released in March 1963, the album reached number one on the British chart. The band's third single, "From Me To You", came out in April and was also a chart-topping hit. On its release in August, the Beatles' fourth single, "She Loves You", achieved the fastest sales of any record in the UK up to that time, selling three-quarters of a million copies in under four weeks.
Beatles headed Billboard magazine's list of all-time top Hot 100 artists in 2008. They have received 7 Grammy Awards from the American National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and 15 Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. They were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people.
A competitor, United Artists Records, encouraged United Artist's film division to offer The Beatles a motion picture contract in the hope that it would lead to a record deal. Directed by Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night had the Beatles’ involvement for six weeks in March–April 1964 as they played the roles in a boisterous mock-documentary. The film premiered in London and New York in July and August, respectively, and was an international success.
The Beatles' second film, Help!, again directed by Richard Lester, was released in July. Rubber Soul, released in early December, was hailed by critics as another major step in the maturity and complexity of the band's music. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" ranked Rubber Soul at number five.
Paul McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby" has been described as a true hybrid, conforming to no recognizable style or genre of song. Magical Mystery Tour, the soundtrack to a forthcoming Beatles television film, appeared as a six-track double extended play disc in early December 1967.
During recording sessions for the album, which stretched from late May to mid-October 1968, relations among the Beatles' members grew openly divisive. Especially with John Lennon's and Paul McCartney.
General critical opinion eventually turned in favor of the White Album, and in 2003 Rolling Stone ranked it as the tenth greatest album of all time. On 8 May 1968, the song Let It Be was released. The accompanying single, "The Long and Winding Road", was the Beatles’ last.
John Lennon was shot and killed on 8 December 1980, in New York City. In a personal tribute, George Harrison wrote new lyrics for "All Those Years Ago", which was recorded the month before John Lennon's death. With Paul McCartney and his wife, Linda, contributing backing vocals, and Ringo Starr on drums, the song was overdubbed with the new lyrics and released as a single in May 1981. Paul McCartney's own tribute, "Here Today", appeared on his Tug of War album in April 1982. In 1987, George Harrison's Cloud Nine album included "When We was Fab", a song about the Beatlemania era.
The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, their first year of eligibility.
The film Let It Be (1970) won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. They have been awarded 6 Diamond Albums, as well as 24 Multi-Platinum albums, 39 Platinum albums and 45 Gold Albums in the United States, while in the UK they have 4 Multi-Platinum albums, 4 Platinum albums, 8 Gold albums and 1 Silver album.
The Beatles' influence on popular culture remains immense. Their musical innovations as well as their commercial success inspired many musicians worldwide.
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