Simply put, rock ‘n’ roll as we know starts with the Beatles. Give Elvis and all those other pioneers credit for planting the seeds, but almost every rock artist of the past 50 years owes the Fab Four a heap of thanks for setting popular music’s template. Their very first album, 1963’s ‘Please Please Me,’ crackles with cross-Atlantic energy – inspired by American pop but rooted in British determination. By the time they made their sixth album, ‘Rubber Soul,’ they were writing their own songs and, more importantly, shaping a rock and pop landscape that would be explored and expanded on for decades to come. ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ is their pop-art masterpiece, but each of the Beatles’ 12 albums is a classic. No other group in rock history can make that claim.
- Formed: 1960
- Selected Discography: ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ (1967), ‘Revolver’ (1966), ‘Rubber Soul’ (1965)
- Related Artists: George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr
- Further Reading: Top 10 Beatles Songs, Top 10 Beatles Albums, Top 10 Beatles Bootleg Albums