The Beatles is the only band in the world to be honored to have their international day. According to the decision of UNESCO, starting from 2001, January 16, the day the band first appeared on the stage becomes the day of the celebration of the group around the world.
Favorites of the gods
In the same year, George Harrison, the lead guitarist of the band, died for 20 years, one of the founders of the Beatles John Lennon, who was killed in 1980, was not alive. But the glory of this group is such that even now, 45 years after the official collapse, they become idols of the
younger generations. World Beatles Day is a well-deserved tribute to the team, which, according to the same Lennon, at the peak of his fame was more popular than Jesus Christ. The phrase made a lot of noise, but an interesting case is connected with it. In Texas, a radio station that called for a boycott of the group and publicly burned their records, was struck by lightning the next day and disabled all equipment. After that, the director of the radio station fainted.
Beatlemania
Perhaps this is one of the tales that always accompany the life of celebrities. And they were not just celebrities. The Beatles are not just idols. The obsession of fans was akin to insanity and was called "Beatlemania." The older generation remembers documentary footage of a newsreel, which captures the group’s exit to the garden of the royal residence after the presentation of honorary titles. At the time of the musicians' passage along the park alley, one of the sections of a twisted cast-iron fence several meters high collapsed under the weight of distraught fans who stuck it from top to bottom.
The legendary Liverpools who glorified their city
Who are these musicians in whose honor an international day has been established? The Beatles is a group of four members. John Lennon (1940-1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) are its founders. A little later, George Harrison (1943-2001) joined them. The last, two years later, the team joined the Ringo Starr (1940-2012). We can add that sometimes three more musicians performed in the group - Jimmy Nichol, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best, but the participants listed above became the legendary Liverpool four. In this composition, the group lasted 7 years: from 1963, when world fame came to them, until 1970. Together, 13 albums were released, which included 211 songs, and each of them became a hit.
and event.
Why exactly this date?
The Beatles Day - January 16th. On this date, the opening of Liverpool, on Matthew Street 10, in 1957 by Alan Sinter of the new club “The Cavern” (“Cave”), on the stage of which were performed by very young and unknown to everyone John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison .
In favor of January 16 is another fact from the biography of the team. On this day, in 1964, Cashbox magazine placed the song “I want to hold your hand” on the first line of the hit parade, because in just 10 days the single sold a million copies. The same date is found twice in a creative biography - why is there no reason to celebrate World Beatles Day on January 16?
Fifth beatle
The birthplace of the legendary Beatles Liverpool is a large port city, which, thanks to sailors, was infiltrated by new products from around the world, which could not but affect the local music. Absorbing the world achievements of rock music, the group shaped its style. The Beatles loved Elvis Presley, but their work was purely original. Their producer and sound engineer George Henry Martin, although he himself was not inclined to consider the fifth Beatle, contributed to the popularity of the group's songs. He combined various styles, applied innovative developments in the field of sound recording, used symphonic and psychedelic music, in addition, produced all the albums of the group.
Unattainable group records
World insanity began after the release of the song “Please Please Me” in 1963. 1 billion of its records were sold worldwide, no one else succeeded. There are other records that have not been broken to this day. This gorgeous four really deserves a holiday of its own, such as World Beatles Day.
Singles (CDs with one song) of the group 20 times in America took first place in the hit lists.
For comparison: the singles of their idol, officially recognized as the most successful singer - Elvis Presley - took the first line 18 times. The Beatles' debut album, 62 weeks, was in the top ten best-selling in the world. And only after 50 years the record was broken: the album of the singer Emeli Sande lasted 63 weeks.
But according to many indicators, the four from Liverpool remain at Olympic heights. If you do not take into account the genuine love for them of millions of people belonging to several generations, and the contribution that they have made to the world musical culture, then only according to the above records, the magnificent four deserves their personal holiday, established by UNESCO, called the Beatles International Day ".
These stars will shine for a long time
Before and after this musical collective there were many popular and successful performers, for example Madonna. But not one of them reached the Liverpool four, because the Beatles are not just a group, this is an epochal phenomenon of a planetary scale. Without exaggeration, in the 60-70s, in absolutely all countries of the world, hundreds of thousands of people lived as these four, caught every word of them, copied every gesture, laughed at jokes, sobbed under the stage and did other crazy things. Thousands of analysts have studied this mental state of the masses called Beatlemania. No other artist has reached the establishment of a holiday dedicated to him, such as World Beatles Day. This group deserved it, because even now, decades after its collapse, up to 2000 people work in the magnificent four industry. Although some experts say that this subculture is sunset.