The Beatles were active throughout the sixties before breaking up in 1970. 

They were just kids in Liverpool when they started playing together in the late fifties. Those Merseyside boys honed their craft in Hamburg, entertained tens of millions in the United States, and took the world by storm. 

Even though they broke up over fifty years ago, the Beatles remain the best-selling musicians of all time.

In the Beginning 

Paul McCartney and John Lennon were only fifteen and sixteen years old when they first met. Lennon was in a band called the Quarrymen, and McCartney was brought in by another band member. George Harrison, also fifteen, joined the group soon after. 

Over the next few years, the group tried on different names: Johnny and the Moon Dogs, The Silver Beetles, and The Silver Beats. By 1960, they had settled on the Beatles. They went through a few different drummers before Ringo Starr joined them in 1962.

The Beatles performed in Hamburg in 1960 with Pete Best as their drummer. Harrison was deported in November for lying to German authorities about his age. Just a week later, McCartney and Best were deported as well. 

They returned to Hamburg the following year and returned to increased popularity in Liverpool. When they returned home to England, they were discovered by fellow Liverpool native Brian Epstein. The group signed him as their manager in early 1962.

The Fifth Beatle 

“If anyone was the fifth Beatle,” McCartney once said, “it was Brian.”

Epstein set his sights on the world stage and cleaned up their image, swapping grungy clothes out for suits. He urged them to act more professionally as well. There would be no more eating on stage, no more smoking or swearing during their performances. 

Those ragtag Liverpool kids were growing up and headed for bigger things. 

Within six months, their new manager landed the group their first recording contract. They recorded at EMI Studios on Abbey Road for the first time in June 1962. 

The first four songs to be recorded were “Besame Mucho,” “Ask Me Why,” “PS I Love You,” and the iconic “Love Me Do.”

These first four songs were produced by George Martin, who felt that Pete Best was not up to par. The other band members agreed. That summer, they replaced Best with local drummer Richard Starkey, who had already started going by the name Ringo Starr.

With the help of their new manager, the Beatles were soon playing to bigger crowds at better venues than they ever had before. 

In 1963, their album “Please Please Me” hit number one on the United Kingdom charts, and Epstein booked the group a spot on the Ed Sullivan Show in the United States. 

“Please Please Me” was the first of eleven consecutive albums released in the United Kingdom to reach the top spot on the charts. Their fourth single, “She Loves You”, was their first single to sell over one million copies.