The Beatles
The
Beatles official website
The
Beatles (1960-1970) were an English music group from
Liverpool who were the most critically acclaimed,
commercially successful artists of their time. They
continue to be held in the highest esteem for their
artistic achievements, their huge commercial success,
their groundbreaking role in the history of popular
music, and their contributions to popular culture.
Although their initial musical style was rooted in
the sounds of 1950s Rock & Roll, the group explored
a great variety of musical styles, ranging from Tin
Pan Alley to rockabilly and from folk to avant-garde
- frequently distilling their multiple influences
into a hybrid that came to be regarded as distinctly
their own[citation needed]. The innovative music and
style of John Lennon (19401980), Paul McCartney
(1942), George Harrison (19432001), and
Ringo Starr (1940) helped to define the 1960s.
The
Beatles were the best-selling popular musical act
of the 20th century. In the United Kingdom alone,
they released more than 40 different singles, albums
and EPs that reached number one. This commercial success
was repeated in many other countries: EMI estimated
that by 1985, the band had sold over one billion discs
or tapes worldwide. The RIAA has certified The Beatles
as the top selling artist of all time in America based
on U.S. sales of singles and albums.
Their
early material fused elements of American rock 'n'
roll and R&B into a new and influential strain
of popular rock 'n roll. With Lennon and McCartney
penning most of the band's songs, they established
a prototype for the "self-contained" rock
group, which departed from the traditional practice
of producers, composers and arrangers writing the
songs for popular music acts. The Beatles were a major
force behind the so-called "British Invasion"
of U.K.-based rock 'n' roll bands in the United States
in the mid-1960s, inspiring what the media was to
term "Beatlemania" (see below). They helped
to pioneer more advanced, multi-layered arrangements
in both rock and pop, and were instrumental in the
development of some of the dominant musical styles
of the 1960s, notably folk rock, hard rock and psychedelia.
The
Beatles' impact extended well beyond their music.
Their clothes, hairstyles, statements, and even their
choice of instruments made them trend-setters throughout
the 1960s (see The Beatles' influence on popular culture),
while their growing social awareness reflected
in the development of their music saw their
influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions
of the 1960s. (Credit: Wikipedia)
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