The Beatles, nicknamed "The Fab Four," were a British musical group from Liverpool. They were perhaps the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful rock group of the time. They recorded 28 albums, including Please, Please Me (1963), With the Beatles (1964), A Hard Day's Night (1964), Beatles for Sale (1964), Help! (1965), Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), Magical Mystery Tour (1967), the White Album (1968), Abbey Road (1969), Hey Jude (1970), and Let It Be (1970), variously for the Parlophone, Capitol, Apple, Vee-Jay, and Polydor labels.
The Beatles also produced and starred in several films, including A Hard Day's Night, Help, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be.
In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the Beatles #1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the Performer category in 1988.
The Beatles performed live in everything from night clubs to huge, open-air concerts in stadiums. Their last concert was in San Francisco at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. They discontinued live concerts due to safety concerns, worries that no one in the audience could hear the music over the screams of fans, and their desire to devote time to exploring stylistic effects which could only be done in recording studios.
The four members of the group were guitarist John Lennon, born John Winston Lennon, later John Ono Lennon (1940-1980), bass guitarist Paul McCartney, born James Paul McCartney (1942- ), guitarist George Harrison (1943-2001), and drummer Ringo Starr, born Richard Starkey (1940- ). Former members were drummer Pete Best (member of the group from 1960-1962) and bass guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe (member of the group from 1960-1961) (deceased).
"Beatlemania" in the United States began in earnest on February 7, 1964, when the group arrived at Kennedy International Airport in New York for their American tour. More than 10,000 screaming fans met the group at the airport. A massive publicity campaign had preceded their arrival. The group's rock and roll single I Want to Hold Your Hand had been released in January 1964, followed within a week by She Loves You and within another week by Please, Please Me. During the week of April 4, 1964, the Beatles set a record by occupying the top five slots on the Billboard Top Pop Singles chart. They appeared on the Ed Sullivan TV show on February 1964, and 70 million people watched the show. Their first concert appearance in the U.S. was at the Coliseum in Washington, D.C. on February 11, 1964.
They were the first of a number of British rock bands which took over the pop music charts in the U.S. in the mid 1960s, collectively referred to as "The British Invasion." The success of the group was primarily due to the songwriting partnership of McCartney and Lennon, Harrison's guitar-playing, and Starr's personality and drumming style. In addition, each member had a distinctive public persona; most fans had a favorite Beatle.
The Beatles' musical style evolved from 1950s rock and roll. They subsequently experimented with several styles: pop, rock and roll, and psychedelic rock. The technical sophistication of their albums and the sophistication of their melodies and song lyrics were unlike any music that had preceded them. Two of the group's albums won Grammy Awards, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and Abbey Road (1969).
The Beatles disbanded in 1970, the year Hey Jude and Let It Be were released. Diverging political and religious interests and artistic differences were the causes of the breakup, but the four artists went on to have solo careers, occasionally collaborating on live benefit concerts and individual albums.
All four members were awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth in 1965. Paul McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1997.
John Lennon was murdered in front of his apartment in New York City on December 8, 1980 by a mentally unbalanced fan. A memorial garden was created in his memory in Central Park near his apartment building, funded by contributions from fans.
George Harrison died of cancer in Los Angeles, California on November 29, 2001. He was knighted posthumously by Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain.
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