The Beatles are the most important band of all time

Whether you’re a fan of their music or not, there is no doubt that everyone has heard of The Beatles. Comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, the English rock band took the world by storm with their music in the 1960s, and have left an everlasting impact on music ever since. Even though the band wasn’t even together for a full decade, their time as a band is more important than anyone else’s because they revolutionized the music industry in numerous ways. It is not necessarily the quality of their music that makes me believe that they are the most important band of all time, but the way in which they have altered music and how that impact has transcended music and spread to society. 

The rise of The Beatles began with “Beatlemania,” which skyrocketed the group to international superstardom and allowed them to be the anchors of influence that they were and still are to this day. They started off making cheesy love songs, but then transformed their style into something completely different once people actually started to listen. Their music wasn’t just music, but their songs had meaning; they were messages or statements on the political and social situations in the world.

Look no further than their song “Blackbird,” which is really about the Civil Rights Movement and the desegregation of schools. The Beatles began breaking down barriers and took advantage of their popularity by spreading important messages. It isn’t just me that has this opinion either, but other respected/famous musicians have a lot of admiration for The Beatles for what they were willing to do. Ozzy Osbourne has gone on the record on his podcast saying that The Beatles altered his world: “You don’t forget, we came out of World War II and the whole thing… We had strict rules to live by. And it was that they broke the doors down for so many people and they gave freedom to the world”(Osbourne on The Osbournes Podcast).

It was more than just being a good band; people looked to them for guidance and inspiration. Even when their messages were controversial or went against what the industry wanted them to say, The Beatles still dominated the music charts. Their songs are some of the most recorded and played in all of history, and their song Yesterday is one of the most covered songs ever reaching to 1,600 versions just by 1986. And as of 2009, they were the best-selling band in history with over 600 million record sales worldwide. They were without a doubt important to the success of the music industry, but their role went much further than that in regards to their influence.

Despite the opinions of most other musicians, many people still believe that The Beatles are not the most important band of all time, as they are not as important to the existence of music as others. Many people credit the likes of Ludwig Van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or other composers with as much of an impact on music as them. While this is a valid point; these composers changed music forever and it can be argued that without them The Beatles may have never gotten the chance to be as big as they were. However, although The Beatles may very well have those composers to thank, The Beatles completely changed what music is supposed to be. Music used to be an escape, a form of entertainment. Although it still can be those things, The Beatles allowed it to be so much more than that.

Music has power and meaning, expressing different ideas and emotions that we couldn’t imagine having expressed to us in any other way. There are composers, producers, and other artists who are all crucial to music and important in their own way, but none of them have done it like The Beatles, and that is why they are the most important band of all time.