Beatles became the most popular group in rock music history. The group consisted of four Englishmen: John Lennon (1940-1980), Paul McCartney (1942-…), George Harrison (1943-2001), and Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey, 1940-…). Lennon and McCartney wrote and sang most of the group’s songs. Harrison played lead guitar, Lennon played rhythm guitar, McCartney played bass, and Starr played drums.
All the Beatles were born in Liverpool. Lennon and five other musicians formed a band called the Quarrymen, named after the high school that they attended. McCartney joined the group in 1957. Harrison joined Lennon and McCartney in 1958 and the three, with bass guitarist Stu Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best, performed together under several names. They finally called themselves the Beatles in 1960. Sutcliffe left the group in 1961, and Starr replaced Best in 1962. Brian Epstein, who ran a Liverpool record store, became their manager in 1961. The Beatles gained nationwide fame in 1962 and worldwide fame in 1964. The group made its American debut in a famous live television appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb. 9, 1964.
During the early 1960’s, the Beatles’ style was influenced by American rock artists, especially Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and the Everly Brothers. The Beatles’ first compositions were simple love songs, such as “Love Me Do” (1962) and “Please Please Me” (1963). In 1964, the Beatles toured the United States and created a sensation everywhere they performed. They starred in two popular movies, A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965). A full-length cartoon, Yellow Submarine (1968), featured the music and characters of the Beatles. 
During the middle and late 1960’s, the Beatles helped to give rock music a new direction. Most earlier rock music had been based primarily on a strong beat, but the Beatles’ music contained a new sense of melody. Their chord progressions were also more complex, and the lyrics of their songs were more imaginative and meaningful. The Beatles composed several songs of social criticism, including “Nowhere Man” (1965) and “Revolution” (1968). They also wrote such ballads as “Michelle” (1965) and “Yesterday” (1965). Other popular Beatles songs included “Strawberry Fields Forever” (1967), “Hey Jude” (1968), “Come Together” (1969), and “Something” (1969). The Beatles won an Academy Award for the music from Let It Be (1970), a documentary motion picture about the group in a recording studio.
Loading the player...The Beatles: Beatlemania
The Beatles began to drift apart in the late 1960’s for a number of artistic, business, and personal reasons. The group broke up in 1970, but by that time their records had outsold those of any other popular music or rock music performers in history. After the breakup of the group, all the Beatles performed as soloists or led their own groups. In 1980, Lennon was shot to death outside his apartment building in New York City. A 25-year-old man named Mark David Chapman was convicted of the shooting. The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Harrison died of cancer in 2001. The Beatles won a number of Grammy Awards for their music, including a 2014 Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.
Decades after the group broke up, three songs based on demos (demonstration recordings) made by Lennon in the late 1970’s were released as Beatles recordings. The songs—”Free as a Bird” (1995), “Real Love” (1996), and “Now and Then” (2023)—included contributions from the remaining members of the Beatles, recorded after Lennon’s death.
