The Beatles were a pop and rock group from Liverpool, England. The band are recognised for leading the mid-1960s musical \"British Invasion\" into the United States. Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and homegrown skiffle, the group explored genres ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, styles, and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.

The Beatles are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music.[2] In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries; their record company, EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion records worldwide.[3] According to the Recording Industry Association of America, The Beatles are the best-selling musical act of all time in the United States.[4]

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles #1 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[5] According to that same magazine, The Beatles\' innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s, and their influence on pop culture is still evident today.[

n April 1966, the group began recording what would be their most ambitious album to date, Revolver.[citation needed] During the recording sessions for the album, tape looping and early sampling were introduced in a complex mix of ballad, R&B, soul, and world music.

The Beatles performed their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August 1966.[80][87] McCartney asked Tony Barrow to tape the event, but the 30-minute tape he used ran out halfway through the last song.[88]

From then on, The Beatles concentrated on recording. Less than seven months after recording Revolver, The Beatles returned to Abbey Road Studios on 24 November 1966 to begin the 129-day recording sessions for their eighth album, Sgt. Pepper\'s Lonely Hearts Club Band, released on 1 June 1967.

On 25 June 1967, The Beatles became the first band globally transmitted on television, before an estimated 400 million people worldwide.[citation needed] The band appeared in a segment within the first-ever worldwide television satellite hook-up, a show titled Our World. The Beatles were transmitted live from Abbey Road Studios, and their new song \"All You Need Is Love\" was recorded live during the show, albeit to the accompaniment of a backing track they had spent five days recording and mixing in the studio prior to the broadcast.[89]

The band\'s business affairs began to unravel after manager Brian Epstein died of an accidental prescription drug overdose on 27 August 1967 at the age of 32. At the end of 1967, they received their first major negative press in the UK with disparaging reviews of their surrealistic TV film Magical Mystery Tour.[90] Part of the criticism arose because colour was an integral part of the film, yet the film was shown on Boxing Day in black and white. The film\'s soundtrack, which features one of The Beatles\' few instrumental tracks (\"Flying\"), was released in the United Kingdom as a double EP, and in the United States as a full LP (the LP is now the official version).

The group spent the early part of 1968 in Rishikesh, Uttar Pradesh, India, studying transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.[91] Upon their return, Lennon and McCartney went to New York to announce the formation of Apple Corps. The middle of 1968 saw the band busy recording the double album The Beatles, popularly known as The White Album because of its plain white cover. These sessions saw deep divisions opening within the band, with Starr temporarily leaving the band. The band carried on, with McCartney recording the drums on the songs \"Martha My Dear\", \"Wild Honey Pie\", \"Dear Prudence\" and \"Back in the USSR\". Among the other causes of dissension were that Lennon\'s new girlfriend, Yoko Ono, was at his side through almost all of the sessions, and that the others felt that McCartney was becoming too dominant.[92] Internal divisions had been a small but growing problem in the band; most notably, this was reflected in the difficulty that Harrison experienced in getting his songs onto Beatles albums.

On the business side, McCartney wanted Lee Eastman, the father of his then-girlfriend Linda Eastman, to manage The Beatles, but the other members wanted New York manager Allen Klein. All past Beatles decisions had been unanimous, but this time the four could not agree. Lennon, Harrison and Starr felt the Eastmans would put McCartney\'s interests before those of the group. In 1971, it was discovered that Klein, who had been appointed manager, had stolen £5 million from The Beatles\' holdings. Years later, during the Anthology interviews, McCartney said, \"Looking back, I can understand why they would feel that he [Lee Eastman] was biased for me and against them.\"

The band\'s final live performance was on the rooftop of the Apple building at 3 Savile Row, London, on 30 January 1969, the next-to-last day of the difficult sessions for what eventually became the Let It Be album, along with assistant engineer Alan Parsons.[93] Most of the performance was filmed and later included in the film Let It Be. While the band was playing, the local police were called because of complaints about the noise. Although the group was simply asked to end their performance, the band members later remarked in the Anthology video that they were disappointed they were not arrested – pointing out that the police hauling the band members off in handcuffs would have been \"an appropriate ending\" for the film.[citation needed]

The Beatles recorded their final album, Abbey Road, in the summer of 1969. The completion of the song \"I Want You (She\'s So Heavy)\" for the album on 20 August 1969 was the last time all four Beatles were together in the same studio. Lennon announced his departure to the rest of the group on 20 September 1969, but agreed that no announcement was to be publicly made until a number of legal matters were resolved. Their final new song was Harrison\'s \"I Me Mine\", recorded 3 January 1970 and released on the Let It Be album. It was recorded without Lennon, who was in Denmark at the time.[94]

In March 1970, the Get Back session tapes were given to American producer Phil Spector, who had produced Lennon\'s solo single \"Instant Karma!\". Spector\'s Wall of Sound production values went against the original intent of the record, which had been to record a stripped-down live performance. McCartney was deeply dissatisfied with Spector\'s treatment of \"The Long and Winding Road\" and unsuccessfully attempted to halt release of Spector\'s version of the song. McCartney publicly announced the break-up on 10 April 1970, a week before releasing his first solo album, McCartney. Pre-release copies included a press release with a self-written interview explaining the end of The Beatles and his hopes for the future.[95] On 8 May 1970 the Spector-produced version of Get Back was released as Let It Be, followed by the documentary film of the same name. The Beatles\' partnership was finally dissolved in 1975.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles