45 Reasons The Beatles Are Perhaps The Most Impactful Musicians In Music History

The Beatles wait backstage on February 16, 1964 before the second of three consecutive Sunday night appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. They would soon be performing live in front of another all-time, record-setting audience. Photo credit: Joe Allen.

Author’s Note: This is an excerpted portion of a lengthy (30k+ words) article I published 8 years ago titled “My Ticket To Ride” Why The Beatles Are Perhaps The #1 Most Impactful Musicians In History.

Objectivity and the use of specific criteria should be the basis for any claim regarding an artist(s) comparative impact superiority versus their peers. I base my claim regarding the Beatles on 3 broad points 1.) the longevity of their impact, 2.) the depth of their impact, and 3.) the breadth of their impact and then support each with facts.

Perspective really matters. Keep in mind that the Beatles existed for just 8 years and released 16 US studio albums during those same years. James Brown had 71 albums, Sinatra had 59, Johnny Cash 55, Miles Davis 48, Pete Seeger 52, Ray Charles 55, Prince 39, Bob Dylan has 36, the Rolling Stones have 36 and Taylor Swift has 10. And, most all of these musicians have performed and recorded for more than 50 years. So quantitatively, the Beatles are in a comparatively tough spot. Maybe…

Allow me to provide you with a few examples of how this works. Artist(s) who post record downloads/sales numbers without having been the songwriter don’t make my cut. By this measure, great singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, Frank…