HOW THE BEATLES RULED THE CHARTS 1964
A
TIME ON THE U.S. HOT 100 CHART TIME AT NUMBER ONE
B
A. FIRST U.S. NUMBER ONE HIT “I Want to Hold Your Hand was released in December 1963 but didnʼt hit number one until January 18. It stayed on the charts for a total of 15 weeks.
THE BEATLES
MORE POPULAR THAN JESUS? The Beatles made the news when on July 29, 1966, a magazine called “DATEbook” published a quote from an earlier interview with John Lennon in which he said,
“
B. MOST SONGS ON THE CHARTS
1965
During the week of April 4, 1964, The Beatles accomplished a feat never matched by any other artist to date: They held 12 positions on the singles chart, including the top five. The songs in the top five were “Canʼt Buy Me Love,” “Twist and Shout,” “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and “Please Please Me.”
Weʼre more popular than Jesus now. I donʼt know which will go first,
”
rock and roll or Christianity.
But were the Beatles more popular than Jesus? After all, the Beatles are still to this day the best-selling music artist of all time. Read more to find out.
THE NUMBER ONES This chart shows the top five songs that stayed the longest at number one on the U.S. Billboard charts. The Beatles had 20 number one hits in the U.S. 1
1966
OTHER FACTS AND FEATS The Beatles hold many records both in the U.S. and abroad. Here is just a sampling of the U.S. records that they hold: SINGLES: Most number one singles (20 songs) Most weeks at number one (59 weeks)
1967
Most weeks on the Hot 100 (609 weeks)
CHART POSITION
10
20
Get Back (1969)
30
40
Most songs in the Hot 100 at the same time (14 songs on April 11, 1964)
50
ALBUMS: Most number one albums (19 albums)
HOW THE BEATLES EVOLVED
Most weeks at number one (609 weeks) Most consecutive number one albums (8 consecutive number one albums from 1965 to 1968)
1968
C
C. LONGEST TIME ON CHARTS “Hey Jude” was released on September 14, 1968, and stayed on the charts until January 18, 1969. It spent a total of 19 weeks on the chart, which is more than any other Beatles song. Even more impressive, “Hey Jude” was at number one for nine of those 19 weeks.
1969
1970 D
D. LAST U.S. NUMBER ONE HIT “The Long and Winding Road” was the last number one hit of The Beatles while they were still together. It entered the charts on May 23, 1970 and peaked at number one on June 13. It spent a total of 10 weeks on the charts.
1971 SOURCES: BILLBOARD.COM, BUSINESSWEEK
Hey Jude (1968)
Canʼt Buy Me Love (1964)
Most chart entries within a calendar year (30 charted songs in 1964) WEEK 1
WEEK 5
I Want to Hold Your Hand (1964)
Yesterday (1965)
WEEK 10
WEEK 15
Phase One (1958-63)
WEEK 19
ALBUMS RELEASED
The Beatles, originally named The Quarrymen, started their careers with small-scale tours in the UK and Germany. their first recording session was at Abbey Road Studios in London in June 1962. Their first hit in the UK was “Love Me Do.” They didnʼt have a hit in the U.S. until “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was released in December 1963.
Please Please Me Meet the Beatles
Phase Two (1964-66)
NUMBER ONES
ALBUMS RELEASED
The Beatles came into their own during these years with their new-found popularity. Their albums reveal an increasingly wholistic sound, but The Beatles began to have problems with commercialism vs. creativity.
SONGS ON THE CHARTS
A Hard Dayʼs Night Help! Beatles for Sale Rubber Soul Revolver
Phase Three (1966-68)
NUMBER ONES
ALBUMS RELEASED
The Beatles began to face backlash in response to Lennonʼs infamous comment about Jesus. They also began to become more experimental in their music, adding classical influences, as well as delving into psychedelic rock.
SONGS ON THE CHARTS
Sgt. Pepperʼs Lonely Hearts Club Band Magical Mystery Tour
Phase Four (1968-70)
NUMBER ONES
ALBUMS RELEASED
The group began to fall apart as each member began to go his own separate way in terms of musical influences, drug use and, of course, women. Their final album, “Let It Be,” was released on May 8, 1970.
SONGS ON THE CHARTS
11
40
4
12 5
10
Yellow Submarine The Beatles (White Album) Abbey Road Let It Be
MORE POPULAR THAN JESUS? Estimations of the total number of Beatlesʼ albums sold are around
1 billion.
The lowest estimation of Bibles distributed is
2.5 billion.
More than 83 million are distributed globally every year. There are
15,400,000
results on Google for “Beatles.”
There are
33,200,000 results on Google for “Jesus.”
Given Jesusʼs 1,900 year head start, he is the clear winner. However, The Beatles are still the best-selling artist of all time with 20 number one hits, 19 number one albums, and the most time spent at number one on the U.S. Billboard charts.
BY KRISTEN LONG