British rock band, the most popular musical act of the 1960s, and one of the most universally acclaimed groups of the 20th century. A highly productive quartet, their music developed at a rapid pace, beginning with a rudimentary rock-and-roll sound. Within their ten-year span, they managed to incorporate numerous other influences in their songs, including chamber music, electronic music, music hall, psychedelic rock, nursery rhymes, and classical Indian music. Their lyrics articulated many of the themes of a socially volatile era and they perpetuated a humorous, working-class demeanour while drawing on ideas from the art underground. Their melodious vocal lines and inventive chord progressions are still highly influential. They comprised four highly distinctive individuals, reflecting a wide range of interests and personality traits. The combined force of the Beatles' achievements is regarded by many as the most potent in rock music.
Sutcliffe left the band in the spring of 1961, causing McCartney to change from rhythm guitar to bass. The Beatles' subsequent shows in Liverpool, particularly at the Cavern Club, were attended by increasingly enthusiastic audiences. In November, a local businessman, Brian Epstein, saw such a concert and became their manager. He encouraged them to dress in a more orderly style and secured them a deal with Parlophone, a subsidiary of EMI Records, in June 1962. Ringo Starr (real name Richard Starkey) joined as the group's permanent drummer in August 1962, finally completing the Beatles' famous line-up. The band released their début single, "Love Me Do" in October, which reached no. 17 in the UK charts. A follow-up, "Please Please Me" (1963) reached no. 2, signalling the onset of a period of intense popularity that became known as "Beatlemania".
The band had adopted the fringed, collar-length hairstyle of their avant-garde friends in Hamburg, which became a distinguishing trait and was adopted by a new generation of music fans. Their developing sound, which was strongly rhythmic (hence the term, "beat group"), also had a strong pop sensibility. This was showcased on the album Please Please Me (1963). Brash, melodic love songs such as "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (both 1963) topped the singles charts again and sold over a million copies each. By the end of this year, the Beatles had released another album, With The Beatles (1963), and their music was rapturously received across Europe.
The band was also warmly welcomed in the United States. Their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, was watched by an estimated 73 million people. By the end of March, they held all top five positions in the US Billboard singles chart, an unprecedented feat. Most of the band's releases from this date on sold in phenomenal amounts. Two feature films, A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help (1965), were critically and commercially successful, highlighting the band's depth of character. On the Help soundtrack album (1965) the songwriting became more mature and diverse, incorporating folk music influences and using more sophisticated lyrical ideas. On June 12, 1965, the Beatles were named Members of the OBE. Paul McCartney's song "Yesterday" (1965) exemplified their increasing stylistic range, featuring a string arrangement and a winsome lyric with the song's wide-ranging and poignant tune. It has since been recorded by hundreds of other artists. The album Rubber Soul (also 1965) was their first to consist entirely of original songs, and is regarded as a creative breakthrough. By now, the band's ambitions had developed from writing simple love songs towards a more self-conscious form of rock music. Revolver (1966) was another important advance. Long-standing producer George Martin was a critical influence in allowing the band the technical freedom to experiment with sound, tempo changes, and studio effects, such as splicing recording tape in unusual contexts. Harrison became recognized as a writing talent around this time, penning the acerbic "Taxman".
The pressures caused by Beatlemania resulted in safety problems for the group, especially when they toured. On August 29, 1966, the band played what was to be their last concert, at Candlestick Park, San Francisco. Retreating to the studio, they produced the single release, "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever" (1967), indicative of the highly complex sound that the Beatles had begun to fashion. This style reached its peak with the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), which involved more than 700 hours of studio time and featured a brass band, an orchestra, and psychedelic textures, in songs such as "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life", reflecting the band's experiences with hallucinogenic drugs. A television film, Magical Mystery Tour (1967) extended the surreal and experimental vein of Sgt. Pepper, in songs like "I am the Walrus". The release of The Beatles (1968), usually known as The White Album, revealed that the band members were collaborating less frequently. This imminent fracture was displayed on the sessions that were filmed in 1969 for Let It Be, a documentary on the recording of the eponymous album, which was released in May 1970, in the wake of the soundtrack album Yellow Submarine, and the final studio album, Abbey Road (both 1969). Despite their increasingly separate musical activity through this period, the group's members continued to produce songs of the highest quality, showing a tendency to return to more direct forms of expression, from the punchy "Revolution" and the extraordinary, mantra-like chorus of "Hey Jude" (both 1968) to the optimistic "Here Comes the Sun" (1969) and the poignant and valedictory "The Long and Winding Road" (1970). It was only after McCartney obtained a court injunction, however, that the Beatles officially disbanded on April 10, 1970. When Lennon was shot dead by a fan on December 8, 1980, it seemed that any prospect of a Beatles reunion was finished. However, on December 4, 1995, a single, "Free As A Bird" was released under the imprint of the Beatles. The song was built on a demo recording made by John Lennon in 1977, to which the three remaining band members had added fresh tracks. This coincided with an official, six-part TV history, The Beatles Anthology, and a series of double albums, beginning with The Beatles Anthology 1, which assembled unreleased tracks and alternative recordings of famous songs. A second single, "Real Love" (1996) also worked up an old Lennon tape into a finished song, continuing the band's commercial success and confirming its classic status.
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