This '60s Group Was Just Ranked the #1 'Greatest Classic Rock Band of All Time' This '60s Group Was Just Ranked the #1 'Greatest Classic Rock Band of All Time'
The band is widely seen as one of the biggest influences on modern popular and rock music, and culture.
Fans named the greatest classic rock band in a 2025 Ranker poll. They revolutionized music, influenced culture, and sold over 600 million records worldwide. Their music continues to inspire, with hits often covered and sampled by diverse artists.
The Beatles revolutionized popular music and influenced 1960s counterculture, selling over 600 million records worldwide, but now the original boy band can add one more accolade to their long list of superlatives. According to a recent poll, The Beatles are also the greatest classic rock band of all time, besting the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, and Queen.
According to an October 2025 Ranker poll, fans think The Beatles are the greatest classic rock band of all time. Ranker, which ranks all things pop culture, starts out with a list curated by experts. Once the list is published, fans get to work, voting the list’s picks up or down. The Beatles top the site’s list of greatest classic rock bands of all time with over 20,000 votes.
Impact and Legacy
The Beatles began as the band The Quarrymen, then The Silver Beatles, in the late 1950s, with the original lineup including Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Pete Best. They officially became The Beatles in 1960, and in 1962 Ringo Starr replaced Best on drums. The foursome released their first single, “Love Me Do,” in 1962, quickly becoming one of the most impactful and important musical acts—and cultural movements—of the era.
Albums like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, and Revolver are considered some of the greatest albums in music history, but The Beatles’ impact spans far past their musical contributions.
Not only did The Beatles revolutionize popular music, innovating the genre with their studio techniques, harmonies, and songwriting, but they were also central to the “British Invasion” of the 1960s, globally influencing youth culture through music, fashion, and identity.
Source: Meredith Gordon/parade.com
