The Beatles:
Beginning to End
By Emilio
Introduction
Have you ever wondered about The Beatles?
Probably you have. Maybe because of the fascinating
way they became famous or when The Beatles got
banned in some places. Read on to find out even
more.
1960-1962
In 1960 five people from Liverpool, England,
who had no idea that they would become incredibly
famous, started calling their band “The Beatles.” The
band had five people John Lennon, Paul McCartney,
Pete Best, Stuart Sutcliffe and George Harrison.
They had tried names like “Long John and the
Beatles” when they were playing in nightclubs. In
1961 Stuart left the band and a year later Pete was
replaced by Ringo Starr. The Beatles’ early influences
were Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, The Byrds, and many
more.
They had a small following until their popularity
grew with their first single “Love Me Do.” The Beatles
started a wave of fans over the world in the 60’s
called Beatlemania.
1963-1964
In 1963 “She Loves You” was their first single to
sell 1 million copies. The same year the song “Please,
Please Me” was number one on the British charts for
weeks. In 1964 The Beatles came to the U.S. and
made their first U.S. television appearance on The Ed
Sullivan Show. There was an estimated 74 million
people watching (that’s about 40% of the U.S.
population)! The Beatles main audience were called
“Teenyboppers” (kids in High School and Grade
School).
1965-1966
In 1965-1966 The Beatles had many highs
and lows. A famous high was their 1966 album “Sgt.
Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” which many
people consider the best rock album ever. It took over
700 hours to record and the Beatles used a full
orchestra. People loved it. Months later John Lennon
starred in a movie called “How I Won the War”.
After filming one day Lennon visited an art gallery
where he met Yoko Ono, his future wife. But, a lot of
problems started coming up. On the cover where The
Beatles are wearing bright colored army uniforms,
critics said they were mocking army uniforms. Later
that year Lennon remarked at a press conference “The
Beatles are bigger than Jesus Now,” which upset
many people and even got the Beatles music banned
in some places.
1967-1968
In the years 1967-1968 the Beatles got more and
more famous, and got involved in more and more
projects. In 1968 George and his girlfriend fly from
London to Los Angeles and rent a house on “Blue Jay
Way” which George based his song upon. That same
year was when Paul McCartney wrote a song about
his sheep dog Martha (“Martha, My Dear”). Later
that year, The Beatles released their third movie
called “Yellow Submarine. They made two other
movies called “Help” and “A Hard Days Night” but
this was their first animated movie. During this time
problems got bigger. Ringo left the band for a period
because of tension between band members, leaving
Paul to do the drums on some songs.
1969-1970
By 1969 The Beatles were extremely famous.
Millions of people were part of Beatlemania. In fact
the group even had a cartoon series made (in 1969)
about them. A year later was when The Beatles
officially broke up as a band, making millions sad. A
month after the band’s break up The Beatles final
album “Let it Be” was released.
After The Beatles
After The Beatles broke up in 1970 their careers
weren’t over, they all pursued successful careers as
solo artists and in other bands. George Harrison
made 12 albums and made films at home. Paul
McCartney was in a band called Wings with his wife
Linda. Ringo Starr made 24 albums with his All Starr
Band. John Lennon he released 7 solo albums. In 1980
(10 years after the band broke up) John Lennon was
murdered in New York City. Five years after
Lennon’s death Michael Jackson bought the rights for
200 songs of The Beatles for $74 million. In 2001
George Harrison died of cancer at age 58.
Conclusion
Even after The Beatles broke up their music is
still popular. The Beatles have been awarded with 7
Grammies, 15 Ivor Novello awards and 24 Multi
Platinum awards and many more. The Beatles even
set a world record by selling over 1 billion albums. I
really hope you learned more about The Beatles and
will pass on what you just learned.