Beatlemania

From 1963 to 1966, a growing epidemic of “Beatlemania” grew across the world. Beatlemania was the growing obsession of the English rock band The Beatles. They grew in popularity in the UK due to their songs about love amongst other things. They flew to the top of the charts with their singles, “Please Please Me,” “She Loves You,” and “From Me to You.” The first to claim the title “Beatlemania” was the British Press after seeing how the fans acted at their live performances. The fans who screamed their heads off were audacious young women who would take any measure to watch the four boys perform. At concerts or even traveling from venue to venue, their fans were always screaming and wanting to see more of The Beatles. People from the outside thought these fans were crazy or just flat out stupid.

In February 1964, The Beatles arrived in the U.S. to appear on television for the Ed Sullivan Show, and approximately 73 million people tuned in to watch the performance. Their domination of the music industry didn't seem to stop at all, raking in tons of money to the point where they couldn't stop. In August 1965, they held a concert at New York's Shea Stadium. This was the first time an outdoor stadium was used for this kind of purpose. There was an audience of 55,000, and it set records for attendance and revenue. During this time, The Beatles had to ride around in an armored car from concert to concert so fans wouldn't harm them.

In 1966 came the downfall of Beatlemania. During an interview with the group John Lennon said they had become “more popular than Jesus.” This angered many people around the world, and they responded with mob revolts, violence, political backlash, and threats of assassination. Restrictions were put onto the band, and these restrictions plus the fact that they were unable to hear themselves play because of the intensity of the fans screaming, led them to be a studio-only band. The screaming was so bad that in some live recordings, you can barely hear some of the instruments. Beatlemania had officially come to an end.