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Arriving.
On this day, "Beatlemania" arrives in New York's Kennedy airport. With their trademark pudding bowl haircuts, all dressed in mod suits the "Fab Four" are greeted by three thousand screaming fans who almost cause a riot as they stepped onto American soil. -
The next month.
Paul McCartney, age 21, Ringo Starr, 23, John Lennon, 23, and George Harrison, 20, made an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (a popular television variety show) two days later. Although, it was hard to hear the performance over the screams of teenage girls in the audience, forty percent of the U.S. Population tuned in to watch.
Throughout the next month The Beatles gave back-to-back performances all around. -
Millions of records.
The Beatles’ first American tour left a major imprint in the nation’s cultural memory. With American youth poised to break away from the culturally rigid landscape of the 1950s, the Beatles, with their exuberant music and good-natured rebellion, were the perfect catalyst for the shift. Their singles and albums sold millions of records, and at one point in April 1964 all five best-selling U.S. singles were Beatles songs. -
Across the country.
By the time the Beatles first feature-film, A Hard Day’s Night, was released in August, Beatlemania was epidemic the world over. Later that month, the four boys from Liverpool returned to the United States for their second tour and played to sold-out arenas across the country. -
Masterpiece of popular music.
Later, the Beatles gave up touring to concentrate on their innovative studio recordings, such as 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, a psychedelic concept album that is regarded as a masterpiece of popular music. The Beatles’ music remained relevant to youth throughout the great cultural shifts of the 1960s, and critics of all ages acknowledged the songwriting genius of the Lennon-McCartney team. -
Disbanded.
In 1970, the Beatles disbanded, leaving a legacy of 18 albums and 30 Top 10 U.S. singles. -
Solo careers.
During the next decade, all four Beatles pursued solo careers, with varying success. Lennon, the most outspoken and controversial Beatle, was shot to death by a deranged fan outside his New York apartment building in 1980. McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for his contribution to British culture. In November 2001, George Harrison succumbed to cancer. -
What if ...
If The Beatles had never landed in New York February 7, 1964 there may not of ever been the Beatles in the U.S. Many singles and/or records that we still love today would never exist. It would seem like there would be a hole in music throughout the generations here The Beatles had been but if The Beatles were never, there would eventually be another band or artist holding up the audience. We could of skipped through the 60's and 70's Beatles and went straight into 70's music. -
Present.
Or maybe instead of having The Beatles throughout the 60's and 70's, music took a turn to completely different genres of music. Everything from the past effects how we live in the present so if The Beatles never were, some of us may never be alive. Anything can happen.
