The Beatles

## Genres

* rock and roll
* psychedelic rock
* garage rock
* folk rock
* soft rock
* hard rock

## Albums

* 3 diamond
* 16 platinum
* 1 gold

## Singles

* 9 platinum
* 20 gold

## Honors

* Both Paul McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr received knighthood. Harrison was selected to the Order of the British Empire, for which he felt inferior.
* The Beatles have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
* All four members have individual stars on the Walk of Fame
* All four members have been inducted into the actual Hall of Fame both as members of the Beatles and as solo artists, with Starr having been given the "Award for Musical Excellence" rather than inducted as a performer
* 13 Grammys
* 9 albums inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame
* 14 songs inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

## Legacy

* The film *Across the Universe* was based around Beatles music and named for one of their songs
* Hard rock band Aerosmith successfully covered their hit *Come Together*
* Blues rock musician Fats Domino covered their song *Lady Madonna*, which had been done in his style
* Jam band Soulive did a beatles tribute album called *Rubber Soulive,* after the Beatles album *Rubber Soul*, complete with similar artwork. It includes an instrumental version of *Come Together*.

## Controversy

* Their song *The Ballad of John and Yoko* became controversial for its verse "Christ! You know it ain't easy. You know how hard it can be. The way things are goin', they're gonna crucify me."
* "More popular than Jesus" was a remark made by John Lennon during a 1966 interview, in which he argued that Christianity would end before rock music. He added that "Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me." His opinions drew no controversy when originally published in the United Kingdom, but angry reactions flared up in Christian communities when the comment was republished in the United States five months later. Shortly after the controversy broke, Lennon reluctantly apologized for the comment, saying "if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it". He stressed that he was simply remarking on how other people viewed and popularized the band. The events contributed to the Beatles' lack of interest in public live performances, and the US tour was the last they undertook, after which they became a studio-only band.

## Trivia

### Pop Culture

* popular cartoon *The PowerPuff Girls* (the original version) did an episode based entirely around Beatles songs, entitled *Meet the Beat-Alls*
* the popular TV show *The Monkees* and the subsequent pop group which spun off from it were designed as a parody of The Beatles
* The cover of their album *Abbey Road* is noted for featuring a Volkswagen Beetle
* Blue eyed soul musician Joe Cocker successfully covered the Beatles song *With a Little Help from My Friends*. His version went on to become the theme song to the eighties TV show *The Wonder Years.*
* Weird Al Yankovic parodied *Taxman* with his song *Pac-Man.* He also parodied *Hey Jude* with *Hey Food*.
* their name was inspired by Buddy Holly and the Crickets
* It is believed they are referenced in the Don McLean hit *American Pie*

### Other

* The compilation *Beatles 1* is the best-selling collection of number-one hits of all time
* The group led the British Invasion of the 1960s
* After the group's breakup in 1970, all four members went on to have successful solo careers, with McCartney having the most notable success
* The song *Tomorrow Never Knows* is noted for its raga style
* they hold the record for most number-one hits
* The song *Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da* is noted for its ska style. It caused mild controversy in Britain due to it sounding like "Oh bloody".
* *The Ballad of John and Yoko* is named for Lennon's relationship with Yoko Ono, who is often credited for the band's breakup.
* The line "He got muddy water" in *Come Together* refers to blues legend Muddy Waters
* The song *Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds* was rumored to be slang for LSD, but was never proven. Despite these rumors, the song was never banned from airplay.
* Noted for the "Paul is dead" conspiracy, where it was rumored that McCartney had died and there were clues hidden throughout the songs and album covers. McCartney would later reference this with his concert album *Paul is Live!*.
* *A Day in the Life* was based around real life events and is noted for its bizarre trip sequences
* *Revolution* was written in response to the counterculture movement, trying to calm everyone
* *Helter Skelter* is considered to be one of the first metal songs.
* Several songs on the *White Album* were linked to the infamous Charles Manson Murders as being a part of a "coded prophecy"
* *Rocky Raccoon* is mentioned as going to his room "only to find Gideon's Bible", for decades the only thing not stolen from hotel rooms.