The group’s history began in 1960 with an investment of $88. That’s how much 20-year-old John Lennon borrowed from his friend to buy a bass guitar, which the newly created group sorely needed. After 25 years, the rights to all The Beatles songs were already valued at $50 million – that’s how much pop idol Michael Jackson bought them for. And in 2016, the group’s work became the property of Sony, which paid $750 million for it. Thus, for 56 years, investment in The Beatles grew by an average of 33% per year.
Interesting facts about the legendary four
- January 16 is World Beatles Day. It was on this day that the Liverpool club The Cavern was founded, where the first performances of future rock legends The Beatles took place. Over the seven years of its existence, the group has released 13 official studio albums and 211 compositions, conquered all possible charts, and also established itself as the founders of modern rock.
- At the beginning of their creative career, none of the band members knew musical notation
- It is believed that every 15 seconds a Beatles song is played somewhere in the world.
- Paul once told reporters that he really loves chocolates, but eats them extremely rarely – George takes all the sweets from him. After this, Beatlemania grew into Chocolate Mania: the Apple studio was filled with heaps of chocolate, and many parcels arrived with the note: “This is not for George, but for Paul.” Fans threw candy at the musicians “live” during their performances.
- All four British musicians married American women.
- Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are left-handed.
- A photo of The Beatles from 1965 sold for $45,000.
- John Lennon’s song Imagine became a pacifist anthem.
- During the Beatles’ performance at the Royal Variety Show, the royal family joined the audience. The audience, sensing their presence, behaved rather shyly and even applauded with an eye to the royal box. Noticing this, John said after performing one of the songs: “The audience in the cheap seats, don’t be shy, applaud! And others, too, join in – shake your jewelry.” The Queen was not at all offended by the joker (here is a good sense of English humor!) and even gave Lennon an expensive ring.
- John Lennon once said at the peak of his fame that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. Outraged by this statement, the KLUE radio station from a small Texas town held an event of public burning of records and other symbols of the Beatles, in which many of its listeners took part. The next day, the radio station’s house was struck by lightning, after which the equipment was disabled and the announcer lost consciousness.
- In 1984, the rights to Beatles songs were auctioned. Michael Jackson won it, paying almost $50 million – more than Paul McCartney himself offered. From that time on, Jackson received half of the income from the Beatles’ sales (the other half went to the songwriters, mainly McCartney).
- After the release of the romantic track “Penny Lane” in 1967, the authorities of Liverpool experienced serious losses due to the theft of signs on houses. As a result, it was decided to write the street name and house number directly on the walls of the buildings.
- Album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was the first in history to have lyrics to all songs on the back.
- In the song Hey Jude, you can hear Paul McCartney exclaiming: “Oh, fucking hell!” It was a reaction to the wrong chord. However, the phrase was left in the original recording, only slightly muffled.
- At first, Yesterday’s composition was called “Scrambled Eggs”. The song began: “Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs.”
- On August 1, 1971, George Harrison organized two benefit concerts in support of Bangladesh. Thus, the musician became the founder of charity concerts.
- Long before Steve Jobs was born, Paul McCartney and John Lennon founded Apple to produce music and films.
- In 1980, John Lennon was killed, and in 2001, after long-term treatment, George Harrison died. Now 78-year-old Paul McCartney and 80-year-old Ringo Starr continue to be creative and write music.
