HISTORY OF THE BEATLES

Pre-Birth of the Beatles

•  John Lennon is introduced to Paul McCartney by a mutual friend in July of 1957.
•  John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison form The Quarry Men in August 1958 (with Ken Brown)
•  In October of 1959, Ken Brown leaves the band and John, Paul and George call themselves Johnny and the Moondogs.
•  Stuart Sutcliffe joins the band as their drummer and the new band is called the Beatals.
•  Tommy Moore joins the band in May 1960 and they are re-named the Silver Beetles.
•  In July 1960, there is another shake-up of the band and they become the Silver Beatles.

Birth of the Beatles

•  Pete Best joined the band in August of 1960 and the band makes a last name change and they become the Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best.
•  Sutcliffe leaves the band in June 1961, but is not replaced.
•  The Beatles get a manager, Brian Epstein, who eventually engineers their initial rise to fame.
•  January 1962, The Beatles sign a record contract with Parlophone Records.
•  The Beatles fire their drummer, Pete Best and replace him with Ringo Starr.
•  Their first single, "Love Me Do," is released in October 1962.  Their first album, Please Please Me was released in the United Kingdom in 1963.

Rise to Fame

•  The album, Meet The Beatles is released in the United States in January 1964 and shoots straight to #1 on the US charts.
•  Beginning in 1964 Beatlemania becomes a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic.
•  The Beatles make their first trip to the US and land in JFK Airport in New York City on February 7, 1964.  Two days later, they make their famous first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
•  The Beatles release their first movie in July 1964 (UK) A Hard Day's Night (opened the following month in the US). Their second movie, Help! is released one year later.

On Top of the World (or at least on top of the roof)

•  The Beatles make their second trip to the US in 1965 and play a sold out Shea Stadium (New York City) on August 15th.
•  The first live world-wide satellite program aired on June 25, 1967.  It was called Our World, featuring the Beatles.
•  The Beatles launch a new recording label - Apple Records in May 1968.
•  John, Paul, George and Ringo perform live for the last time together on the roof of their London office on January 30, 1969.

The End

•  John announces his intention to leave the band in September of 1969.  Within a few months, after additional internal conflict, the break-up becomes official in April 1970 when McCartney publicly announces that he is leaving the band.  The band legally dissolves on December 31st of that year.
•  Mark David Chapman tragically murdered John Lennon on December 8, 1980.
•  Fifteen years after Lennon's Death, the remaining three Beatles took a John Lennon song Free as a Bird and added their own vocals and instruments to his original recording.  It was released as part of the Anthology Collection.
•  The second Beatle was taken away from us on November 29th, 2001, when George Harrison died due to cancer.

Band History by Ian Ripley, PopStarsPlus.com, Sr. Staff Writer

 

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