The Beatles

The English rock band that rewrote what popular music could be. Formed in Liverpool in 1960 and dissolved a decade later, leaving behind twelve studio albums, more than two hundred recordings, and the template every band that came after has either followed or worked against. Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles (the White Album), Abbey Road, and Let It Be redrew what a rock record could sound like, what a song could be about, and how a record could be made.

The four songwriters — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr — produced their last finished album in 1970 and have been the cultural reference point for everything else since. They were the first major group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on first eligibility (1988), and they remain the best-selling music act of all time, with global sales estimated at 600 million units across albums, singles, and EPs.