YEAR
1988
INDUCTED BY
Mick Jagger
CATEGORY
Performers
John, Paul, George and Ringo, no last names needed, kickstarted the British Invasion in the U.S. like Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley before them.
However, the Beatles spoke to a younger generation, and ushered in a modern era of rock & roll where experimentation, transformation and taboo topics became de rigueur.
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
George Harrison
Ringo Starr
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Michael Hill
Historically speaking, the birth of the Beatles has been traced time and again to Saturday afternoon, July 6th, 1957, at the St. Peter’s parish garden fete in Woolton, a Liverpool suburb.
Seventeen-year-old John Lennon was performing there with a group of school chums who called themselves the Quarrymen. They were a product of the skiffle craze – a fad inspired by the primitive washboard-band sound of Lonnie Donegan’s hit “Rock Island Line” — but they displayed a pronounced rock and roll bent.
Watching the Quarrymen was fifteen-year-old guitarist Paul McCartney, who was introduced to the band afterward. What broke the ice between the more mature Lennon and the cocky McCartney was their mutual enthusiasm for an Eddie Cochran song.
