The Beatles were formed in Liverpool, England in 1958 and became the most influential and successful rock band of the 20th century. The Beatles were – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr along with their manager Brian Epstein who the band considered as the 5th Beatle.
The Beatles records sold over a billion units before their music was transferred on to digital format like CD. The Beatles released their first single on October 5, 1962 (Love Me Do/ P.S. I Love You)
The Beatles then released the single “Please Please Me/ Ask Me Why” on Jan 11. 1963. The first two Beatles records/albums (”Please Please Me” released Mar. 22, 1963 and “With The Beatles” released Nov 22, 1963) were sold in England and sold very well. In America, the first album released was called “Introducing The Beatles” which came out on July 22, 1963. The Beatles didn’t really make an impact in the U.S. until the second U.S. album – “Meet The Beatles” was released January 20, 1964. The first song on this album hit number 1 just after the album’s release, and just days from the band flying to the US for a performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
In the U.S. Beatles records were slightly altered from the United Kingdom versions, Capitol records (USA) removed a number of songs from the original album versions so as to release extra albums (Something New, Yesterday…And Today, Hey Jude for example) thereby cashing in on the bands popularity within the USA.
In 1964, the Beatles records sold a then world record (9 singles and 6 LPs), representing U.S. sales of over 25 million.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” sold almost 5 million records in the US by 1968, making it the best selling single of the 1960’s (from a Capitol Records Press Release, Sept, 9, 1968).
By August 1964, The Beatles records had sold approximately 80 million globally *Variety 235, August 12, 1964).
“Rubber Soul” sold 1.2 million copies in the U.S. during the first 9 days of its release (Billboard article, January 1, 1966).
By May 1967, the Beatles’ global gross stood at $98 million (Variety 246, May 19, 1967).
The “Hey Jude” single had sold over 3 million copies in America in its first 2 months of release, and 3.7 million by mid-January 1969. It eventually sold over 4 million copies and was the 4th best-selling single of the 1960s (Spizer, Bruce, 2003: The Beatles on Apple Records, p. 32).
Although it carried a list price of $11.79, their double album The Beatles sold 1.1 million units during its first 2 weeks on sale; a record for any double album at that point in time (Spizer, Bruce, 2003: The Beatles on Apple Records, p. 102).
“Abbey Road” sold over 3 million copies in the US in a little over a month, making it one of the best-selling Albums of the 1960s despite having been on sale for only the last three months of the decade (Spizer, Bruce, 2003: The Beatles on Apple Records, p. 164).
The Beatles records had topped worldwide sales of 300 million units by 1969, this feat was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.
The “Let It Be” album sold 3.2 million copies in 13 days representing a gross retail value of nearly $26 million (Billboard article, June 6, 1970).
By October 1972, the Beatles records worldwide had sales of 545 million units, a world record (Billboard 84, October 21, 1972).
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