The Beatles: All About the Members of the Legendary Band
Arguably no group in rock history has had a bigger impact than The Beatles.
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, a.k.a. The Fab Four, produced 19 No. 1 albums, scored 20 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the best-selling music artists of all time, per the Recording Industry Association of America.
Founding members McCartney and Lennon met in Liverpool, England, on July 6, 1957. That day, McCartney played with Lennon’s band, The Quarrymen, and they bonded over their love of songwriting.
"I turned round to him right then on first meeting and said, 'Do you want to join the group?' ” Lennon said of his bandmate in The Beatles Anthology. “And he said ‘yes’ the next day as I recall it.”
McCartney brought his school friend, Harrison, into the fold in 1958, according to Far Out Magazine. After The Quarrymen rebranded as The Beatles in 1960, the group went through several more early lineup changes — including the addition of Starr and brief tenures of bass player Stuart Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best. The Beatles released their debut album, Please Please Me, in 1963.
Proof of the band’s international success came on Feb. 9, 1964, when a record-breaking 73 million viewers tuned in to watch them perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. They went on to release 12 more albums and spawned hit after hit, including “Here Comes the Sun,” “Come Together,” “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude” and “Yesterday.”
The group won seven Grammys and was honored with titles as Members of the Order of the British Empire in 1965. In 2014, The Beatles were recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy.
Source: Nicole Briese/people.com
