History Summary
The Beatles were an English rock band that formed in Liverpool in 1960 and consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The band's history includes:
1950s: Lennon formed a band in high school and McCartney and Harrison joined in the late 1950s. The band was originally called the Quarrymen and later the Silver Beetles.
1960: The band adopted the name the Beatles and began playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll and started as a skiffle band.
1962: The band signed a recording contract with a major music company and replaced Pete Best with Ringo Starr. Their first song was "Love Me Do" and their first hit was "Please Please Me" in 1963.
1964: The Beatles became international stars and were a key part of the 1960s counterculture.
1965–1967: Their music evolved from ballads to psychedelic hard rock.
1966: The band stopped touring after four years and 1,400 international appearances because the audience was screaming so loudly that the music couldn't be heard.
1970: The band broke up.