Harrison had achieved great success with his 1988-1992 collaboration with the Traveling Wilburys, a super-group he formed with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty. He had survived an assassination attempt 2 years earlier from a knife wielding mentally deranged man at Harrison’s home in England. George Harrison, often referred to as “The Quiet Beatle” also enjoyed individual success, although he also died young, at the age of 58, cut down by lung cancer. McCartney continues to draw enormous crowds wherever he appears. Lennon and McCartney went on to the greatest level of success in the post-Beatles era, though Lennon’s career was tragically cut short at the hands of a mentally ill assassin in 1980. Of course, the success of the Beatles was not merely the synergy of 4 separate musicians, but also based on the extreme writing and performing talents of each of the members. Still, Billboard (as of 2017) does call them the most successful artists of all-time, with record sales of 178 million in the US and over 800 million world-wide! A total of 7 Grammy’s and an Academy Award emphasize just how amazing the Fab Four really was. Even more amazing is that the Beatles only enjoyed widespread popularity for even fewer years, from their breakout year of 1964 until their breakup year of 1970. Billboard Magazinerated “I Want to Hold Your Hand” #44 on their list of Biggest Hits of all time in 2013.Ĭonsidering the incredible success of the Beatles, it is mind boggling that the band broke up in 1970, after being together only for 10 years. In fact, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” went on to sell 12 million singles and remains the biggest Beatles hit in the US and in the entire world. While the Beatles had previous success in Britain with “She Loves You” and “Love Me Do,” those 2 songs failed in the US market, and it was finally “I Want to Hold Your Hand” that captivated American music fans. In 2 weeks “I Want to Hold Your Hand” finally ousted “She Loves You” and grabbed Britain’s top position for the next 5 weeks. Oddly enough, in Britain “She Loves You” was the first Beatles #1 hit and prevented “I Want to Hold Your Hand” from instantly taking the top slot.
The Beatles would go on to probably the greatest career for any band in musical history, let alone Rock and Roll. In fact, the Beatles would go on to post a record 20 #1 hits in the US. On February 1, 1964, the British sensational band, The Beatles, hit the top of the American charts for the first time with their smash hit, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The iconic rock song was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and would be the first of many such #1 hits by this song writing and singing pair.