Four Liverpool musicians and the album era they started

The Beatles formed in Liverpool in 1960: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and, from 1962, Ringo Starr. The band grew out of Lennon's earlier group, the Quarrymen, and built a reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison had been together since 1958 and went through several drummers before Starr officially joined. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound added classical music and traditional pop.

Manager Brian Epstein shaped them into a professional act, and producer George Martin developed their recordings. After signing with EMI, they had their first hit, “Love Me Do”, in late 1962. As popularity grew into the fan frenzy dubbed “Beatlemania”, they became international stars by early 1964 and led the British Invasion of the US pop market. Their film debut was A Hard Day's Night (1964), followed by Help! (1965).

The pressure of concert tours and a desire to refine their studio work led to their retirement from live performances in 1966. From then on, albums grew more sophisticated: Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, later The Beatles (the White Album) and Abbey Road. These records heralded the album era and advanced album art, music videos and electronic music. In 1968 the band founded Apple Corps.

They broke up in 1970, and all former members succeeded as solo artists. With estimated sales of over 600 million units, the Beatles are the best-selling music act of all time, with 20 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Songs like “Here Comes the Sun”, “In My Life” and “Now and Then” keep their catalog moving through new listeners.