Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, eventually settling with Pete Best in 1960, who played with them for two years before being replaced with then Rory Storm & The Hurricanes drummer Ringo Starr in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein molded them into a professional act and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed "Beatlemania", the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four", with Epstein, Martin and other members of the band's entourage sometimes given the informal title of "fifth Beatle".
By early 1964, the Beatles were international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United States pop market and breaking numerous sales records. They soon made their film debut with A Hard Day's Night (1964). From 1965 onwards, they produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), and enjoyed further commercial success with The Beatles (also known as "the White Album", 1968) and Abbey Road (1969). In 1968, they founded Apple Corps, a multi-armed multimedia corporation that continues to oversee projects related to the band's legacy. After the group's break-up in 1970, all four members enjoyed success as solo artists. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001. McCartney and Starr remain musically active.
The Beatles are the best-selling music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They hold the record for most number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart, most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and most singles sold in the UK. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and all four main members were inducted individually between 1994 and 2015. In 2008, the group topped Billboard's list of the all-time most successful artists on the Billboard Hot 100. The band received seven Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award (for Best Original Song Score for the 1970 film Let It Be) and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. Time magazine named them among the 20th century's 100 most important people.
Former Rolling Stone associate editor Robert Greenfield compared the Beatles to Picasso, as "artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original "... In the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive ..." The British poet Philip Larkin described their work as "an enchanting and intoxicating hybrid of African-American rock-and-roll with their own adolescent romanticism", and "the first advance in popular music since the War".
They not only sparked the British Invasion of the US, they became a globally influential phenomenon as well. From the 1920s, the US had dominated popular entertainment culture throughout much of the world, via Hollywood films, jazz, the music of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley and, later, the rock and roll that first emerged in Memphis, Tennessee. The Beatles are regarded as British cultural icons, with young adults from abroad naming the band among a group of people that they most associated with UK culture.
Their musical innovations and commercial success inspired musicians worldwide. Many artists have acknowledged the Beatles' influence and enjoyed chart success with covers of their songs. On radio, their arrival marked the beginning of a new era; in 1968 the programme director of New York's WABC radio station forbade his DJs from playing any "pre-Beatles" music, marking the defining line of what would be considered oldies on American radio. They helped to redefine the album as something more than just a few hits padded out with "filler", and they were primary innovators of the modern music video. The Shea Stadium show with which they opened their 1965 North American tour attracted an estimated 55,600 people, then the largest audience in concert history; Spitz describes the event as a "major breakthrough ... a giant step toward reshaping the concert business". Emulation of their clothing and especially their hairstyles, which became a mark of rebellion, had a global impact on fashion.
According to Gould, the Beatles changed the way people listened to popular music and experienced its role in their lives. From what began as the Beatlemania fad, the group's popularity grew into what was seen as an embodiment of socio-cultural movements of the decade. As icons of the 1960s counterculture, Gould continues, they became a catalyst for bohemianism and activism in various social and political arenas, fuelling movements such as women's liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism. According to Peter Lavezzoli, after the "more popular than Jesus" controversy in 1966, the Beatles felt considerable pressure to say the right things and "began a concerted effort to spread a message of wisdom and higher consciousness".
Other commentators such as Mikal Gilmore and Todd Leopold have traced the inception of their socio-cultural impact earlier, interpreting even the Beatlemania period, particularly on their first visit to the US, as a key moment in the development of generational awareness. Referring to their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show Leopold states: "In many ways, the Sullivan appearance marked the beginning of a cultural revolution ... The Beatles were like aliens dropped into the United States of 1964.
In 1965, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). The Beatles won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for the film Let It Be (1970). The recipients of seven Grammy Awards and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards, the Beatles have six Diamond albums, as well as 20 Multi-Platinum albums, 16 Platinum albums and six Gold albums in the US. In the UK, the Beatles have four Multi-Platinum albums, four Platinum albums, eight Gold albums and one Silver album. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
The best-selling band in history, the Beatles have sold more than 800 million physical and digital albums as of 2013. They have had more number-one albums on the UK charts, fifteen, and sold more singles in the UK, 21.9 million, than any other act. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Beatles as the most significant and influential rock music artists of the last 50 years. They ranked number one on Billboard magazine's list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, released in 2008 to celebrate the US singles chart's 50th anniversary. As of 2017, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with twenty. The Recording Industry Association of America certifies that the Beatles have sold 178 million units in the US, more than any other artist. They were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people. In 2014, they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
There are two holidays celebrated for the Beatles: Global Beatles Day on 25 June each year. On that date in 1967, the band performed "All You Need Is Love" on television. In 2001, UNESCO created World Beatles Day on 16 January each year. This date has direct relation to the opening of The Cavern Club in 1957.
Five asteroids, 4147 Lennon, 4148 McCartney, 4149 Harrison, 4150 Starr and 8749 Beatles are named after the Beatles.
Bad Boy
The Beatles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He won't do nothing right just sitting down and look so good
He don't want to go to school and learn to read and write
Just sits around the house and plays the rock and roll music all night
Well, he put some tacks on teachers chair
Puts chewing gum in little girl's hair
Man, junior, behave yourself
Every dime that he get is lost to the jukebox man
Well, he worries his teacher till at night she's ready to poop
From rocking and a-rolling spinning in a hula hoop
Well, this rock and roll has got to stop
Junior's head is hard as rock
Now junior, behave yourself
Going tell your mama you better do what she said
Get to the barber shop and get that hair cut off your head
He took your canary and he fed it to the neighbors cat
He gave the cocker spaniel a bath in mother's laundromat
Well, mama's head has got to stop
Junior's head is hard as rock
Now junior, behave yourself
The Beatles' song Bad Boy is a satirical representation of a delinquent and rebellious kid who moves into the singer's neighborhood. The lyrics describe his mischief and irresponsible behavior, which includes avoiding school to play rock and roll music all night, sabotaging his teacher's seat and gumming little girls' hair. The boy's obsession with rock and roll music leads him to spend all his money on the jukebox, and he eventually becomes a nuisance to his teacher, who gets tired of watching him spin in a hula hoop. The singer urges the bad boy to behave himself and stop creating chaos in his surroundings.
The song's sing-along appeal belies its true meaning in the lyrics, which are a commentary on the rock and roll culture of the 1950s and '60s. During this period, teenagers and youths were seen as reckless and naive, with their love for rock and roll music being frowned upon by the older generation. The Beatles, who were themselves known for their rock and roll sound, poke fun at the labels attached to youngsters and the moral panic generated around their behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
A bad little kid moved into my neighborhood
There's a troublesome kid now living in my area
He won't do nothing right just sitting down and look so good
This kid's always lounging around but has a charming demeanor
He don't want to go to school and learn to read and write
He refuses to attend school and learn the basics
Just sits around the house and plays the rock and roll music all night
He spends all his time at home listening to rock and roll
Well, he put some tacks on teachers chair
He played a prank on his teacher by putting tacks on their chair
Puts chewing gum in little girl's hair
He puts gum in a girl's hair just to be trouble
Man, junior, behave yourself
Someone is telling this kid to behave
Buy every rock and roll book on the magazine stand
He spends all his money buying books about rock and roll
Every dime that he get is lost to the jukebox man
All of his money goes to playing songs on the jukebox
Well, he worries his teacher till at night she's ready to poop
His teacher is so stressed out by him that she's up all night
From rocking and a-rolling spinning in a hula hoop
He's even causing trouble with a hula hoop
Well, this rock and roll has got to stop
Someone believes that rock and roll is to blame for this kid's behavior
Junior's head is hard as rock
This kid is stubborn and won't listen
Now junior, behave yourself
Someone is again telling this kid to behave
Going tell your mama you better do what she said
Advice to this kid to listen to his mother
Get to the barber shop and get that hair cut off your head
Someone wants him to get his hair cut as a sign of obedience
He took your canary and he fed it to the neighbors cat
This kid is cruel to animals and feeds a bird to a cat
He gave the cocker spaniel a bath in mother's laundromat
He even washes a dog (inappropriately) in a public laundry facility
Well, mama's head has got to stop
This kid is driving his mother crazy
Junior's head is hard as rock
Someone is still lamenting this kid's lack of obedience
Now junior, behave yourself
A final plea to this kid to start behaving
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Larry Williams
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Philip Kassabian
on Mother Nature's Son
A really great Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on The Night Before
A really splendid Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on P.S. I Love You
Now this is a really great Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on There's a Place
A seriously underrated Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on Do You Want to Know a Secret
A fantastic song by The Beatles.
Philip Kassabian
on When I'm Sixty-Four
A very tuneful Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
An excellent Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on I'm Looking Through You
A beautiful Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
Honestly The Beatles can't stop producing good songs.
Philip Kassabian
on Michelle
A fantastic Beatles song and absolutely beautiful.