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.
I'm a Believer
The Beatles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Meant for someone else but not for me.
Oh, love was out to get me
That's the way it seems
Disappointment haunted all my dreams.
Then I saw her face
Now I'm a believer.
Of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love
(uuuuuu)
I'm a believer, I couldn't leave her
if I tried
I thought love was more or less a given thing
The more I gave the less I got,
What's the use of trying
All you get is pain
When I wanted sunshine I got rain
Then I saw her face,
Now i'm a believer.
Not a trace
Of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love
(uuuuuu)
I'm a believer, I couldn't leave her
if I tried
Oh, love was out to get me
That's the way it seems
Disappointment haunted all my dreams.
Then I saw her face
Now I'm a believer.
Not a trace
Of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love
(uuuuuu)
I'm a believer, I couldn't leave her
if I tried
I'm a believer
The lyrics to The Beatles' "I'm a Believer" reflect the singer's disbelief in love and the disappointment and pain he has experienced in previous romantic relationships. He feels that love is only something that exists in fairy tales or in the lives of others, not for himself. He perceives love to be harmful and actively working against him, bringing him only disappointment and strife, and he wonders if it is even worth trying. However, everything changes when he sees the face of a new love interest, which instantly makes him a believer in love. The doubt and pain that previously plagued him disappear, and he is now fully committed to this new relationship, and cannot imagine leaving her no matter what.
The song showcases the transformative power of love and how it can change a person's entire perspective on life, from one of hopelessness and defeat to one of possibility and fulfillment. Even though the singer had previously given up on love, he is no longer a skeptic, and he fully embraces this new and positive experience.
Line by Line Meaning
I thought love was only true in fairy tales
I used to believe that love was just a fantasy from fairy tales.
Meant for someone else but not for me.
I thought maybe love was possible for others, but not for me.
Oh, love was out to get me
It felt as if love was deliberately targeting me.
That's the way it seems
It felt like that was the reality always true for me.
Disappointment haunted all my dreams.
Every dream with a glimpse of love in it was always disappointingly unattainable.
Then I saw her face
But then, I saw the face of someone special.
Now I'm a believer.
Everything changed in that moment and I truly believed in love.
Not a trace
There was not even a hint or a shadow of doubt.
Of doubt in my mind.
The belief that I found love made me completely sure and confident.
I'm in love
I'm experiencing the sensation of caring for someone else deeply.
(uuuuuu)
A melody capturing the happiness and harmony of being in love.
I'm a believer, I couldn't leave her
I'm now certain that love exists and so won't even contemplate leaving my special someone.
if I tried
Even if I tried my hardest, I still wouldn't be able to leave them - that's how strong my feelings are.
I thought love was more or less a given thing
Before I met my special someone, love seemed like a predetermined and expected part of life.
The more I gave the less I got,
I used to believe that love was a one-sided sacrifice with no reward.
What's the use of trying
Why bother trying to find love, when it always leads to heartache?
All you get is pain
In my experience, love only brought me suffering and hurt.
When I wanted sunshine I got rain
Whenever I expected love to bring happiness and positivity, it only resulted in sadness and disappointment.
Contributed by Sophie E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@entity9576
These guys loved Shrek so much they time traveled to the past to make the Shrek song. Mad respect.
@theextracrispycolonel9504
Entity..So it would seem,that's some dedication right there.
@root-beer
Relatable
@myperfectlyimperfectfamily9484
And that's a fact.
@myperfectlyimperfectfamily9484
We're now just waiting for someone to get wooooshed....
@WOLFM0THER
my perfectly imperfect family i volunteer!
@DiamondDovahkiin
Adulthood is finding out that the smash mouth version is a cover
@chadzigler
i be 35 and i been listenin to oldies before smash mouth singers were even in school
@jcortese3300
Middle age is not knowing WTF Smash Mouth is and that they covered an old Monkees song. :-)
@MarkyMark1221
This the second version of this song older than the smash mouth cover I’ve found today (other was from the jojo rabbit trailer)