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.
Sweet Little Sixteen
The Beatles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In Philadelphia PA,
Deep in the heart of Texas,
On down the Frisco Bay.
All over Saint Louis
And down in New Orleans.
All the cats want to dance with
Sweet little sixteen.
Sweet little sixteen,
She's just got to have
About half a million
Framed autopraphs.
Her wall is filled with pictures,
She gets them one by one.
Becomes so excited,
Oh watch her at the run boy.
Oh mommy mommy,
Please may I go.
You know it's such a sight to see
Somebody steal the show.
Oh daddy daddy,
I beg of you.
Please say it to mommy
It's alright with you.
Sweet little sixteen
She's got the grown up blues.
Tight dresses and lipstick,
She's sporting in high heeled boots.
Oh but tomorrow morning
She'll have to change her trend
Become sweet sixteen
And back in class again.
They're really rocking in Boston,
In Philadelphia PA,
Deep in the heart of Texas
And down the Frisco Bay.
All over Saint Louis,
On down in New Orleans.
All the cats want to dance with
Sweet little sixteen
The song "Sweet Little Sixteen" by The Beatles tells the story of a teenage girl who is the center of attention and admired by many. The song describes her popularity and how she is wanted by all the boys in the cities of Boston, Philadelphia, Saint Louis, New Orleans, and Frisco Bay. The singer describes how she is adored with half a million framed autographs on her wall and how she becomes excited when she receives them. The song also highlights her desire to be allowed to attend events where she can steal the show while asking for permission from her parents.
The song portrays a simple message about the typical experiences of a young girl who is at the peak of her popularity. Girls who turn sixteen are often considered a significant milestone, marking their transition into adulthood. However, the song also highlights the temporary nature of her stardom as the girl's life will resume its routine by the next day, allowing her to attend school like any other normal teenager.
Line by Line Meaning
They're really rocking in Boston,
People in Boston are really enjoying the music and dancing energetically.
In Philadelphia PA,
People in Philadelphia are also enjoying the music and dancing.
Deep in the heart of Texas,
Even in Texas, where country music is more popular, people are dancing to this rock music.
On down the Frisco Bay.
People in San Francisco are also enjoying the music and dancing.
All over St. Louis
People in St. Louis are also enjoying the music and dancing.
And down in New Orleans.
People in New Orleans are also enjoying the music and dancing.
All the cats want to dance with Sweet little sixteen.
Everyone at these parties wants to dance with the young girl who is only sixteen years old.
Sweet little sixteen,
The girl they are all dancing with is only sixteen years old.
She's just got to have
She really wants to have
About half a million framed autographs.
She wants to collect many framed autographs from famous people.
Her wall is filled with pictures,
Her wall is covered with pictures of famous people.
She gets them one by one.
She collects these pictures one at a time.
Becomes so excited,
She gets very excited
Oh watch her at the run boy.
She is so excited that she starts running around.
Oh mommy mommy, please may I go.
She asks her mother if she can go to these parties.
You know it's such a sight to see somebody steal the show.
She wants to go because it's exciting to see someone become the center of attention.
Oh daddy daddy, I beg of you.
She also asks her father to let her go to these parties.
Please say it to mommy it's alright with you.
She wants her father to convince her mother to let her go.
She's got the grown-up blues.
She is feeling the pressures of growing up too quickly. She wants to seem older than she really is.
Tight dresses and lipstick, she's sporting in high heeled boots.
She wears clothes and makeup that make her look older and more mature.
Oh but tomorrow morning she'll have to change her trend.
But the next day, she has to go back to being a young girl again.
Become sweet sixteen and back in class again.
She has to go back to being the typical sixteen year old girl who goes to school.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, ENTERTAINMENT ONE U.S. LP
Written by: Chuck Berry
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.