The Beatles

## Genres

* rock and roll
* psychedelic rock
* hard rock
* soft rock
* blues rock
* garage rock
* folk rock
* country rock
* pop rock
* jazz rock
* progressive rock
* raga rock

## Significance

* Most of their studio albums went at least gold. *Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band* went diamond. *The White Album* nearly went double diamond. *Abbey Road* went diamond.
* Two of their live albums went platinum.
* Many of their compilations went at least gold. *The Red Album* went diamond. *The Blue Album* nearly went double diamond. *1* went diamond and was the first collection of number one hits to become a bestseller.
* Four of their box sets went platinum.
* They had numerous hit singles, many of them chart toppers. Several of them went at least gold.
* Their *Come Together* was successfully covered by Aerosmith.
* Their *Lady Madonna*, designed as a tribute to Fats Domino, was covered by Fats himself.
* The Cirque de Soleil show *Love* was based around their music.
* Their *Helter Skelter* is considered an early metal song. It was successfully covered by Motley Crue.
* Their frontman Paul McCartney received knighthood.
* They received numerous awards and accolades.
* All four members have been awarded with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame alongside the band's star.
* Ringo Starr received knighthood, despite originally not expressing any desire.
* The Pretenders covered *Dear Prudence.*

## Trivia

* They influenced the Soundgarden song *Black Hole Sun.*
* Many of their hits have since become classic rock staples.
* There is a Broadway tribute to them.

* They are noted for their bizarrely-animated film *Yellow Submarine,* which has influenced animated cartoons ever since.
* Noted for the "Paul is Dead" conspiracy in which it was believed that McCartney had died and there were clues in the songs and albums proving it. McCartney would release a live album referencing this entitled *Paul is Live!.*
* They are referenced in Don McLean hit *American Pie.*
* Referenced in the Billy Joel hit *We Didn't Start the Fire.*
* Their song *A Day in the Life* is noted for its trip sequence.
* They have been referenced in pop culture many times throughout the decades.
* Jam band Soulive did a live cover album of Beatles songs called *Rubber Soulive*, named after Beatles album *Rubber Soul*. It features similar album artwork.
* *The Ballad of John and Yoko* caused controversy through the use of the phrase "Christ! You know it ain't easy. You know how hard it can be. The way things are goin', they're gonna crucify me." This was one of two Christianity-related scandals along with the claim that they were "more popular than Jesus" (i.e. they had influence on people of all religions, not just Christians).
* All four members went on to have successful solo careers, including induction into the actual Hall of Fame.
* Their *With a Little Help from My Friends* was successfully covered by Joe Cocker. His version was used as the theme song to the 1980s TV show *The Wonder Years*.
* They were the subject of the Beatlemania phenomenon.
* They led the British Invasion of the sixties.
* The movie *Across the Universe* was filmed based around their music.
* Their song*Magical Mystery Tour* was successfully remixed by Cheap Trick.
* There is a Sirius station dedicated entirely to their music.
* The David Bowie song *Young Americans* features the backing vocals "I read the news today, oh boy.", taken from the Beatles song "A Day in the Life".
* Their name was derived from the Beat Movement going on in Britain at the time, which was only known as Beatlemania or the British Invasion in the US. It was combined with a play on the insect "beetle", inspired by Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
* They were parodied by Weird Al Yankovic.
* they were parodied in the Peter, Paul, and Mary novelty hit *I Dig Rock and Roll Music*
* It is possible that the line "I want to turn you on" from the Smashing Pumpkins song *Today* is a reference to *A Day in the Life.*

## Recommended Albums

* Please Please Me
* With the Beatles
* Introducing...the Beatles
* Meet the Beatles!
* The Beatles' Second Album
* A Hard Day's Night
* Something New
* Beatles for Sale
* Beatles '65
* Beatles VI
* Help!
* Rubber Soul
* Yesterday...and Today
* Revolver
* Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
* Magical Mystery Tour
* The Beatles
* Yellow Submarine
* Abbey Road
* Let it Be

## note

There is no "recommended songs" section here because the list became too long.