tijdloze.rocks

The Beatles was een rock- en popgroep uit de Engelse stad Liverpool. De groep was actief van 1960 tot 1970 en wordt algemeen beschouwd als de invloedrijkste band uit de geschiedenis van de popmuziek. De bezetting bestond uit John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison en Ringo Starr; eerdere leden waren Stuart Sutcliffe, Pete Best en Chas Newby. Al vrij snel na hun doorbraak kregen de leden van The Beatles te maken met hysterische reacties van voornamelijk jonge tienermeisjes, die tijdens concerten de muziek met hun gegil overstemden. Voor dit gedrag raakte de term “Beatlemania” in zwang. Tijdens hun carrière verrichtten ze pionierswerk in de geluidsstudio, waarvoor ze in brede kring lof oogstten. Onder hun invloed groeide de popmuziek uit van een op Amerikaanse rhythm-and-blues gebaseerd genre tot een veel breder georiënteerde muzieksoort. Met de ontwikkeling en de verfijning van hun muziek, geleid door het songwritersduo Lennon-McCartney, werden The Beatles steeds meer beschouwd als belichaming van de gezamenlijke idealen van de sociaal-culturele revoluties tijdens de jaren zestig.

Tot de bekendste nummers van The Beatles behoren: I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Yesterday, Michelle, Yellow Submarine, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, All You Need Is Love, Hey Jude, Let It Be, Help!, Penny Lane, In My Life, Here Comes the Sun, Strawberry Fields Forever en Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The Beatles zijn tot nu toe de bestverkopende band in de geschiedenis, met een geschatte verkoop van meer dan 600 miljoen platen wereldwijd. De groep staat bovenaan de lijst van de succesvolste ‘Hot 100’-artiesten aller tijden van het Amerikaanse Billboard Magazine; in 2015 houdt de groep het record voor de meeste nummers-een op de Billboard Hot 100-lijst met twintig. The Beatles kreeg tien Grammy Awards, een Oscar voor beste originele muziek en vijftien Ivor Novello Awards. Collectief zijn The Beatles opgenomen in de 'Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century', een compilatie van de 100 invloedrijkste personen van de twintigste eeuw van het tijdschrift Time. The Beatles staan nummer 1 op de lijst van de 100 invloedrijkste artiesten die door het Amerikaanse muziektijdschrift Rolling Stone werd samengesteld. De groep werd ingewijd in de Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 en alle vier leden individueel tussen 1994 en 2015.

Als echte hoogtepunten in het repertoire gelden de albums A Hard Day's Night (1964, soundtrack van de gelijknamige film), Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (1968) en Abbey Road (1969). Hun album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band uit 1967 geldt als een mijlpaal in de popgeschiedenis.

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the most influential band in Western popular music and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements.

Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles evolved from Lennon's previous group, the Quarrymen, and built their reputation by playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany, starting in 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before inviting Starr to join them in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after they signed with EMI and achieved their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed "Beatlemania", the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four". Epstein, Martin or other members of the band's entourage were sometimes informally referred to as a "fifth Beatle".

By early 1964, the Beatles were international stars and had achieved unprecedented levels of critical and commercial success. They became a leading force in Britain's cultural resurgence, ushering in the British Invasion of the United States pop market. They soon made their film debut with A Hard Day's Night (1964). A growing desire to refine their studio efforts, coupled with the challenging nature of their concert tours, led to the band's retirement from live performances in 1966. During this time, they produced albums of greater sophistication, including Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). They enjoyed further commercial success with The Beatles (also known as "the White Album", 1968) and Abbey Road (1969). The success of these records heralded the album era, increased public interest in psychedelic drugs and Eastern spirituality, and furthered advancements in electronic music, album art and music videos. In 1968, they founded Apple Corps, a multi-armed multimedia corporation that continues to oversee projects related to the band's legacy. After the group's break-up in 1970, all principal former members enjoyed success as solo artists, and some partial reunions occurred. Lennon was murdered in 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr remain musically active.

The Beatles are the best-selling music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They are the most successful act in the history of the US Billboard charts, with the most number-one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart (20), and they hold the record for most number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart (15) and most singles sold in the UK (21.9 million). The band received many accolades, including eight Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award (for Best Original Song Score for the 1970 documentary film Let It Be) and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, 1988, and each principal member was individually inducted between 1994 and 2015. In 2004 and 2011, the group topped Rolling Stone's lists of the greatest artists in history. Time magazine named them among the 20th century's 100 most important people.