The Beatles
lunes, 23 de julio de 2012
domingo, 15 de julio de 2012
The Beatles
The Beatles
were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960, becoming one of the most
commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular
music. The group's best-known lineup consisted of John Lennon (rhythm
guitar/vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar/vocals), George Harrison (lead
guitar/vocals), and Ringo Starr (drums/vocals). Rooted in skiffle and 1950s
rock and roll, the group later utilised many genres, ranging from pop ballads
to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements, in
innovative ways. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as
"Beatlemania", but as their songwriting grew in sophistication, they
came to be perceived by many fans and cultural observers as an embodiment of
the ideals shared by the era's sociocultural revolutions.
As a five-piece line-up of Lennon, McCartney
and Harrison on guitar and vocals, with Stuart Sutcliffe (bass), and Pete Best
(drums), the band built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg
over a three-year period from 1960. Sutcliffe left the group in 1961, and Best
was replaced by Starr the following year. They were moulded into a professional
act by manager Brian Epstein, and their musical potential was enhanced by the
creativity of producer George Martin. They gained popularity in the United
Kingdom after their first single, "Love Me Do", became a modest hit
in late 1962. They acquired the nickname the "Fab Four" as
Beatlemania grew in Britain over the following year, and by early 1964 they had
become international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the
United States pop market. The band toured extensively around the world until
August 1966, when they performed their final commercial concert. From 1966 they
produced what many critics consider to be some of their finest material,
including the innovative and widely influential albums Revolver (1966), Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (1968), and Abbey Road
(1969). After their break-up in 1970, the ex-Beatles each found success in
individual musical careers. Lennon was murdered in 1980, and Harrison died of
cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr remain active.
The Beatles are the best-selling band in
history, with sales of over one billion units estimated by EMI Records. They
have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in
the UK than any other act. According to the RIAA, as of 2012 they have sold 177
million units in the US, more than any other artist, and in 2008 they topped
Billboard magazine's list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists. As
of 2012, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Hot 100 chart
with 20. They have received 7 Grammy Awards from the American National Academy
of Recording Arts and Sciences, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score
and 15 Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers
and Authors. They were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of
the 20th century's 100 most influential people.
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 –
8 December 1980) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who rose to
worldwide fame as one of the founder members of The Beatles, one of the most
commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular
music. Together with Paul McCartney, he formed one of the most celebrated
songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.
Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became
involved as a teenager in the skiffle craze; his first band, The Quarrymen,
evolved into The Beatles in 1960. As the group disintegrated towards the end of
the decade, Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the critically
acclaimed albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs
such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine". After his
marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he changed his name to John Ono Lennon. Lennon
disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to devote time to raising
his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double
Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release.
Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic
wit in his music, writing, drawings, on film, and in interviews. Controversial
through his political and peace activism, he moved to New York City in 1971,
where his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a lengthy attempt by Richard
Nixon's administration to deport him, while some of his songs were adopted as
anthems by the anti-war movement.
As of 2012 Lennon's solo album sales in the
United States exceed 14 million units, and as writer, co-writer or performer,
he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. In 2002 a
BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth, and in 2008, Rolling
Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer of all-time. He was posthumously
inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 1994.
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM (born 18 June 1942), is an
English musician, singer, songwriter and composer. With John Lennon, George
Harrison and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles,
and his collaboration with Lennon is one of the most celebrated songwriting
partnerships of the 20th century. After the group's break-up he pursued a solo
career, forming the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and
singer-songwriter Denny Laine.
McCartney has been described by Guinness World Records as the "most
successful composer and recording artist of all time", with 60 gold discs
and sales of over 100 million albums and 100 million singles, and as the
"most successful songwriter" in United Kingdom chart history. His
Beatles song "Yesterday" has been covered by over 2,200 artists, more
than any other song in history. Wings' 1977 release "Mull of
Kintyre", is one of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK. McCartney
has written or co-written 32 songs that have reached number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2012 he has sold over 15.5 million RIAA-certified
units in the United States.
McCartney has released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist, and
has composed classical and electronic music. He has taken part in projects to
promote international charities related to such subjects as animal rights, seal
hunting, landmines, vegetarianism, poverty and music education. He has been
married three times and is the father of five children.
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an
English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as lead
guitarist of the Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle",Harrison
became over time an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, and introduced it
to the other Beatles, as well as their Western audience. Following the band's
break-up he was a successful solo artist, and later a founding member of the
Traveling Wilburys. Among his other accomplishments Harrison was also a session
musician and a film and record producer. He is listed at number 11 in Rolling
Stone magazine's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Although most of the Beatles' songs were written by Lennon and McCartney,
Beatle albums generally included one or two of Harrison's own songs, from With
The Beatles onwards. His later compositions with the Beatles include "Here
Comes the Sun", "Something" and "While My Guitar Gently
Weeps". By the time of the band's break-up, Harrison had accumulated a
backlog of material, which he then released as the triple album All Things Must
Pass in 1970, from which two hit singles originated: a double A-side single,
"My Sweet Lord" backed with "Isn't It a Pity", and
"What Is Life". In addition to his solo work, Harrison co-wrote two
hits for former Beatle Ringo Starr, as well as songs for the Traveling
Wilburys—the supergroup he formed in 1988 with Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom
Petty, and Roy Orbison.
Harrison embraced Indian culture and Hinduism in the mid-1960s, and
helped expand Western awareness of sitar music and of the Hare Krishna
movement. With Ravi Shankar he organised the first major charity concert with
the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh. In addition to his musical accomplishments, he
was also a record producer and co-founder of the production company HandMade
Films. In his work as a film producer, he collaborated with people as diverse
as the members of Monty Python and Madonna.
He was married twice, to model Pattie Boyd from 1966 to 1977, and for 23
years to record company secretary Olivia Trinidad Arias, with whom he had one
son, Dhani Harrison. He was a close friend of Eric Clapton. To date, he is the
only Beatle to have published an autobiography, with I Me Mine in 1980.
Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.
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