IndexIntroduction 1Who were the Beatles? 1Musical genre and influences 2Lyric content 3Why were the Beatles so successful? 4Conclusion 7Bibliography 8IntroductionDuring the 1950s, when the world was still recovering from post-war despondency and Britain was in the process of reversing the negative economic impact of the Second World War, there were four men who laid the foundations for what would be became known as the Beatles. The Beatles were a rock and roll band that achieved huge success in the early 1960s, resulting in "Beatlemania". This essay offers a brief overview of who the Beatles were, what their musical genre and influences were, and a description of their lyrical subject matter. Furthermore, this essay aims to evaluate the various reasons for the enormous success of the Beatles in terms of the social, political and cultural environment, particularly attributing their success to the economic climate of the time. Who were the Beatles? The Beatles were English rock group founded in 1960, in the city of Liverpool. The band consisted of members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The Beatles are considered by many to be the most influential rock and roll group in history, even though they experimented with multiple genres and achieved critical acclaim and enormous commercial success in the 1960s. Their first single, which launched their career, was "Love Me Do" in 1962. By April 1964, the Beatles had twelve singles on the Billboard Hot One Hundred Singles chart, leading to Beatlemania and the "British Invasion" of the United States. . During the time the Beatles were in the rock and roll industry, they released a total of twelve records, before t... half of the newspaper... ten's Press, New York, 1979.Miles, B.: Paul McCartney : Many years from now. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1997.Monhollon, R.L.: Baby Boom: People and Perspectives. ABC-CLIO, London, 2010.Moore-Gilbert, B. & Seed, J.: Cultural revolution? Routledge, London, 2003.Munck, R.: Reinventing the city?: Liverpool in comparative perspective. Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, 2003.Pinker, S. The better angels of our nature. Penguin Group, New York, 2011.Schinder, S. & Schwartz, A. (eds.): Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever. Greenwood Press, Westport, 2007.Sheff, D. & Golson, GB: Playboy interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Penguin Group, New York, 1982. Spitz, B.: The Beatles: The Biography. Little Brown, New York, 2005.Zeisler, A.: Feminism and pop culture. Seal Press, Berkeley, 2008.