The Beatles

After cutting their teeth playing covers at the Star Club, Hamburg, The Beatles were discovered at Liverpool's Cavern Club by record store owner Brian Epstein, who became their manager and signed them to Parlophone Records, where they established a long, fruitful partnership with producer George Martin. Lennon and McCartney quickly became brilliant, original songwriters and after achieving their first UK Number 1 with their catchy second single Please Please Me in 1963, they became an international phenomenon, revolutionising pop music and effectively inventing a whole new youth culture with their mop-top haircuts and irreverent humour. Beatlemania swept the world and their music developed fast as they embraced alternative ideas, resulting in the ground-breaking albums Revolver and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The death of Epstein in 1967 and the sheer intensity of their celebrity caused major frictions and The Beatles officially split in 1970, but their influence and popularity remain profound.