The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock band from Liverpool, UK. They were arguably the single most influential rock band of the 20th century, selling over a billion records.[Citation Needed] The Beatles played and recorded many genres of Rock and Roll from Tin Pan Alley to Psychedelic Rock.
The four Beatles were John Lennon (1940-1980), George Harrison (1943-2001), Paul McCartney (1942- ), and Ringo Starr (1940- ). Most of the Beatles songs were co-written by Lennon and McCartney. In the latter half of the 1960's the majority of their songs were written individually, but retained the "Lennon & McCartney" writing credit. George Harrison's songs became more prominent on the albums following Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Having evolved from the high school band known as "The Quarrymen," around 1962, the Beatles began playing in Hamburg, Germany, and became very popular there. A year later, thanks to underground radio, they were the biggest band in their native land of the UK. In 1964, the Beatles made their historic trip to the United States to perform on the Ed Sullivan show. To date, this performance is one of the highest-rated television events in history.
As the years passed, the Beatles' sound grew. From an old-fashioned rock and roll sound similar to the Beach Boys and Carl Perkins, the boys put out a much more mature sound on Revolver. They even experimented with folk on Rubber Soul. In 1967, the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band changed music as we know it forever. The psychedelic sound reflected what was going on in the world at that time and also displayed brilliant use of new technologies (such as stereo sound.)
With the White Album and Abbey Road, the Beatles had evolved into hard rockers. The songs had become more personal, and the band was beginning to fall apart. In the late sixties, the Beatles had fallen victim to bad business ventures (namely the Apple company,) and ended up losing the publishing rights to their own music. To this date, the rights are held by recording artist Michael Jackson. Also, creative differences were creating tension among the fab four. After 1970's Let it Be, the Beatles decided they'd had enough and called it quits.
In 2006, Cirque du Soleil opened a Beatle-themed show in Las Vegas, the aptly-titled "Love." The show has been an outstanding success, and so has the album put out of the same name, featuring new remixes of Beatles songs by Beatles producer George Martin and his son Giles. The album also features previously unreleased versions of Beatles classics such as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Strawberry Fields Forever."
The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. As solo artists, all but Ringo have been inducted (Lennon in 1994, McCartney in 1999 and Harrison in 2004).
In 2004 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the Beatles #1 on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[1]
The two surviving Beatles are: Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney. Both Ringo and Paul have their own side projects. Rumors of a Paul McCartney Summer 2007 tour have been circulating.
| The Beatles |
|---|
| John Lennon • Paul McCartney • George Harrison • Ringo Starr Pete Best • Stuart Sutcliffe |
| Discography (Early) |
| Please Please Me (1963) / With The Beatles (1963) / A Hard Day's Night (1964) / Beatles for Sale (1964) / Help! (1965) / Rubber Soul (1965) / Revolver (1966) |
| Discography (Late) |
| Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) / Magical Mystery Tour (U.S.-1967/UK-1976) / The Beatles (album) (1968) / Yellow Submarine (1969) / Abbey Road (1969) / Let It Be (1970) |
| Filmography |
| A Hard Day's Night (1964) • Help! (1965) • Magical Mystery Tour (1967) • Yellow Submarine (1968) • Let It Be (1970) |
| http://www.beatles.com |