The Beatles are the most successful band that has ever been. The band’s principal members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries; their record company, EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion records worldwide. The Beatles are the best-selling musical act of all time in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles #1 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. According to that same magazine, their innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s and their influence on pop culture is still evident today.

John Lennon says Elvis was his main inspiration, as the Beatles formed under many different names with multiple different members from 1957-1960.

On February 9th, 1964, The Beatles would play on the Ed Sullivan show in an infamous performance that would pave the way for Beatlemania.

In June 1965, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed the four Beatles Members of the Order of the British Empire, MBE. Some conservative MBE members returned their insignias in protest of the Beatles being granted these titles. On 25 June 1967, The Beatles became the first band globally transmitted on television, before an estimated 400 million people worldwide. The band appeared in a segment within the first-ever worldwide television satellite hook-up, a show titled Our World. The Beatles were transmitted live from Abbey Road Studios, and their new song “All You Need Is Love” was recorded live during the show, albeit to the accompaniment of a backing track they had spent five days recording and mixing in the studio prior to the broadcast.

The Beatles continued to record and play until finally breaking up in 1975. In 1988, The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a group during their first year of eligibility.[99] On the night of their induction, Harrison and Starr appeared to accept their award along with Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and his two sons. McCartney stayed away, issuing a press release citing “unresolved difficulties” with Harrison, Starr, and Lennon’s estate. Solo Beatles later inducted were Lennon in 1994, McCartney in 1999 and Harrison in 2004.

• The Beatles are the best-selling musical group of all time, estimated by EMI to have over one billion discs and tapes sold worldwide.
• The Beatles have notched up the most multi-platinum selling albums for any artist or musical group (thirteen in the U.S. alone).
• The Beatles have a record six diamond-selling albums (10 million copies): Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles, Abbey Road, The Beatles: 1962-1966, The Beatles: 1967-1970, and The Beatles 1.
• The Beatles have had more number one albums than any other group (19 in the U.S. and 15 in the United Kingdom).
• The Beatles spent the highest number of weeks at number one in the albums chart (174 in the UK and 132 in the U.S.).
• The most successful first week of sales for a double album (The Beatles Anthology Volume 1, which sold 855,473 copies in the U.S. from 21 November to 28 November 1995).
• The Beatles have the fastest selling CD of all time with 1. It sold over 13 million copies in four weeks.

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