The Beatles

**The Beatles** were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960, comprising John Lennon and Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time 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.

## History

Led by primary songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the Beatles evolved from Lennon's previous group, the Quarrymen, and built their reputation by playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney, and George Harrison, together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before inviting Ringo Starr to join them in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after they signed with EMI Records 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 another member of the band's entourage was 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 records of greater sophistication, including the albums *Rubber Soul* (1965), *Revolver* (1966), and *Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band* (1967). They also 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, as albums became the dominant form of record use over singles. These records also 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 went on to have success, both as solo acts and with their own groups. Although Lennon was murdered in 1980, the remaining Beatles re-united in 1994 to record new songs, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love", for the *Anthology* project. Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001; McCartney and Starr re-united again as the Beatles in 2022 to complete the unfinished Anthology project “Now and Then”, which was released the following year and became their last hit. 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, holding the record for most number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart (15), most number-one hits on the US *Billboard* Hot 100 chart (20), and most singles sold in the UK (21.9 million). The band received many accolades, including seven 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 1988, and each principal member was individually inducted between 1994 and 2015.

## Influence on the Kirby Bulborb Cinematic Universe

    Peter Tagg is a fan of The Beatles, along with his mother Philippa Tagg and grandparents Hazel and Clive Dawson. Before he became a Beatles fan, Peter was already a fan of John Lennon's solo music after being introduced to it through Philippa's *Lennon Legend* CD in the early 2000s, and knew of Paul McCartney's solo career as well through the Christmas song "Wonderful Christmastime". Peter became a fan of the group after hearing Philippa's *Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band* CD and the *1* compilation that Andrew Reynolds had brought for him in 2015. Peter has since collected all of the Beatles albums on both CD and vinyl, as well as several Beatles box set releases (including the super deluxe anniversary versions of their albums that have been released so far).

    Since becoming a Beatles fan, Peter has referenced the group in his Pikmin content on numerous occasions: \* The most reoccurring member of The Beatles to appear in the Kirby Bulborb Cinematic Universe is Ringo Starr, who appears in Trooper Village Stories as himself. The version of Ringo featured in the series parodies the real Ringo's 2008 "no fanmail" video, as well as his catchphrase "peace and love".

A reoccurring gag in Trooper Village Stories involves Kirby Bulborb often playing The Beatles really loud. \*\* Steve played The Beatles really loud in "Blast From The Past 2", playing the song "Help!".

Kirby Bulborb played The Beatles really loud in "Noah 4: Revengeradication", playing the song "Twist and Shout".

Several Beatles albums are featured in the Valley Of Records.

Tamama revealed he is a fan of The Beatles in the episode "Sgt Frog's Lonely Hearts Club Band", with his favourite album by them being *Abbey Road*, and his favourite song on being George Harrison's "Here Comes The Sun". His love of the group and that song led to him destroying Trooper Village Record Store as it did not have a copy of *Abbey Road*.

The Beatles have also been referenced on multiple occasions in meme videos, most notably a Doki Doki Literature Club meme video which features every lyric of "Your Reality" being replaced with lines from Beatles songs.