In March 1957, Lennon formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen.

McCartney met Lennon on 6 July 1957, and agreed to join the group a few days later. On 6 February 1958, Harrison was invited to watch the group by McCartney and he joined The Quarrymen as lead guitarist after a rehearsal in March 1958.

Drummer Colin Hanton left the group in 1959, after which they had a high turnover of drummers. Lennon's art college friend, Stuart Sutcliffe, joined on bass in January 1960.

From The Quarrymen, the group went through a progression of names, including "Johnny and the Moondogs" and "Long John and The Beetles". Sutcliffe had suggested the name "The Beetles" as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets, and the group changed their name to "The Beatles" in 1960. The band's lack of a drummer posed a serious problem, as the group's unofficial manager/concert promoter, Allan Williams, had arranged for them to perform at a club in Hamburg, West Germany.

1960

The Indra Club, where The Beatles first played on arriving in Hamburg, as it appeared in 2007.

The group auditioned Pete Best on 12 August 1960.

Four days after hiring Best, the group left for Hamburg, beginning a 48-night residency at Bruno Koschmider's Indra Club, but moved to the Kaiserkeller in October 1960, after the closure of the Indra. They later accepted an offer to play at the rival Top Ten Club, which broke their contract with Koschmider,^{[citation needed]} who reported Harrison to the German authorities for being under-age, leading to Harrison's deportation on 21 November 1960. McCartney and Best were arrested for arson a week later, after setting fire to a condom which they had hung on a nail in their room. They were also deported.

Lennon returned to Liverpool in mid-December while Sutcliffe stayed behind in Hamburg with his new German fiancée, Astrid Kirchherr. The reunited group played an engagement on 17 December 1960 at The Casbah Coffee Club, with Chas Newby substituting for Sutcliffe.

1961–1962

On Tuesday, 21 February 1961, The Beatles made their first lunchtime appearance at The Cavern Club. From 1961 to 1962, they made 292 appearances at the club, culminating in a final appearance there on 3 August 1963.

On 9 November 1961, Epstein saw The Beatles for the first time in the club.

The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, performing at the Top Ten Club again. They were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan (who also had a residency at the club) to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert. Kaempfert signed the group to a Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961, and on 31 October Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)"—lead vocals by Sheridan—which appeared on the German charts.

A few copies were also pressed under the American Decca Records label.^[ When the group returned to Liverpool, Sutcliffe stayed in Hamburg with Kirchherr, so McCartney, unwillingly, took over bass duties.

The Beatles signed a five-year contract with Epstein on 24 January 1962.

Kaempfert agreed to release The Beatles from their Polydor contract, but Decca Records A&R executive, Dick Rowe, turned Epstein down, informing him that "Guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein." (See The Decca audition.) Epstein then approached an EMI marketing executive, Ron White,who contacted EMI producers Norrie Paramor, Walter Ridley, and Norman Newell, all of whom declined to record the band. White could not contact EMI's fourth staff producer, George Martin, as he was on holiday at the time. The Beatles returned to Hamburg from 13 April to 31 May 1962, where they performed at the opening of The Star Club. Upon their arrival, they were informed of Sutcliffe's death from a brain haemorrhage.

Epstein went to the HMV store on Oxford Street in London to transfer the songs recorded at Decca's studio to discs. He was referred to Sid Coleman, who ran EMI's publishing department. Epstein eventually met with Martin, who signed the group to EMI's Parlophone label on a one-year renewable contract.

After the first recordings with Martin, he complained to Epstein that he had a problem with Best's drumming, and suggested that the band use a session drummer in the studio.

In addition to Martin's comments, Epstein had become exasperated with Best's refusal to adopt the groups's unified look onstage. After The individual Beatles heard about Martin's feelings they asked Epstein to dismiss Best, which he did on 16 August 1962, although he had already asked Starr to join the band. Starr was the drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and had performed occasionally with The Beatles in Hamburg, when Best was too ill to play. Starr played on The Beatles' second EMI recording session on 4 September 1962, but Martin hired session drummer Andy White for their next session on 11 September.

White's only released performances were recordings of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You", found on The Beatles' first album.

The Beatles' first EMI session, on 6 June 1962, did not yield any recordings considered worthy of release, but the September sessions produced a minor UK hit, "Love Me Do", which peaked on the charts at number seventeen. "Love Me Do" would reach the top of the U.S. singles chart in May 1964.

On 26 November 1962, the band recorded their second single, "Please Please Me", which reached number two on the official UK charts, and number one on the NME chart. Three months later they recorded their first album, also titled Please Please Me. The follow up single, "From Me to You", became their first #1 song. The group's first TV performance was on the People and Places programme, transmitted live from Manchester by Granada Television, on 17 October 1962.

As The Beatles' fame spread, the frenzied adulation of the group was dubbed "Beatlemania".

1963

The "drop-T" logo

In 1963, The Beatles' iconic logo (referred to as the "drop-T" logo) was first used on the front of Starr's bass drum.

On 11 February 1963, The Beatles' first UK tour began. The month-long tour was followed by three-week tours in March and May 1963, and a six-week tour in November 1963. As well as the four nationwide tours, The Beatles gave numerous one-off shows across the UK during 1963.

The band's performances were attended everywhere with riotous enthusiasm by screaming fans. To control the crowds, police found it necessary to use high-pressure water hoses; the safety of the police at Beatles concerts became a matter of national concern.

Other acts appearing on tour bills with The Beatles included the U.S. artists Tommy Roe, Chris Montez and Roy Orbison. All three had established great popularity in the UK; all three were overshadowed by The Beatles during the 1963 tours.

Record companies in the USA did not immediately follow up the UK successes with releases of their own,and even once they began to do so, The Beatles' commercial success in the USA was hampered by obstacles including issues with royalties, and derision for the Beatle haircut.

It was nearly a year before a 5-minute news shot about Beatlemania in the UK was shown on the CBS Evening News on 10 December 1963, which led to a teenaged girl making an airplay request to a local radio station, which in turn sparked a sequence of events leading to the rush-release of the single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and the long-awaited commercial breakthrough.

1964

On 7 February 1964, a crowd of four thousand fans at Heathrow Airport waved and screamed at The Beatles as they took off from the UK for their first trip to the United States as a group.

After failures with earlier releases, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" sold 2.6 million copies over the previous 2 weeks, but The Beatles were still nervous about how they would be received in the United States.

Their arrival at John F. Kennedy Airport was greeted by another large vociferous crowd of people, estimated at about three thousand fans.

Two days after arriving in the USA, they made their first live American television performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was watched by (approximately) seventy-four million viewers; a number representing about half of the American population at the time.

The morning after the show, one newspaper wrote that The Beatles "could not carry a tune across the Atlantic", but the next day, 11 February 1964, at Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C., Beatlemania also reached the USA.

The Beatles’ success in America launched the "British Invasion"; a collection of British bands that became popular in the United States after The Beatles' arrival.

In mid-1964 the band undertook their first appearances outside of Europe and North America, to promote their first motion picture A Hard Day's Night. By the time they reached Australia, Starr had tonsillitis, and was temporarily replaced by session drummer Jimmy Nicol. In Adelaide, The Beatles were greeted by over 300,000 people at Adelaide Town Hall.

Starr rejoined by the time they had arrived in New Zealand, on 21 June 1964.

1965

In June 1965, Queen Elizabeth II appointed the four Beatles "Members of the Order of the British Empire", MBE. They were nominated by the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. The appointment—at that time primarily bestowed upon military veterans and civic leaders—sparked some conservative MBE recipients to return their insignia in protest.

On 15 August 1965, The Beatles performed the first major stadium concert in the history of rock 'n' roll at Shea Stadium in New York to a crowd of 55,600.

On 27 August 1965, the group arrived at a Bel Air mansion to meet Elvis Presley. Biographer Peter Guralnick maintains that Presley was at best "lukewarm" about playing host to people he did not really know.

McCartney later said: "It was one of the great meetings of my life ... I only met him that once, and then I think the success of our career started to push him out a little, which we were very sad about, because we wanted to co-exist with him." Marty Lacker, a friend of Presley's, recalls the singer saying, "'Quite frankly, if you guys are going to stare at me all night, I'm going to bed. I thought we'd talk a while and maybe jam a little.' And when he said that, they [The Beatles] went nuts."

The group and Presley told stories, joked and listened to records, and had an impromptu jam session:

"They all went to the piano," says Lacker, "and Elvis handed out a couple of guitars. And they started singing Elvis songs, Beatle songs, Chuck Berry songs. Elvis played Paul's bass part on "I Feel Fine", and Paul said something like, 'You're coming along quite promising on the bass there, Elvis.' I remember thinking later, 'Man, if we'd only had a tape recorder.'"

The Beatles' sixth album, Rubber Soul, was released in early December 1965, and was critically hailed as a major leap forward in the maturity and complexity of the band's music.

1966

In July 1966, during a tour of the Philippines, they unintentionally snubbed the nation's first lady, Imelda Marcos, who had expected the group to attend a breakfast reception at the Presidential Palace. When presented with the invitation, Epstein politely declined on behalf of the group, as it had never been his policy to accept such official invitations.

The group soon found that the Marcos regime was unaccustomed to accepting "no" for an answer; the resulting riots endangered the group which managed to escape the country with difficulty.

Almost as soon as they returned from the Philippines, an earlier comment made by Lennon in March of that year launched a backlash against The Beatles from religious and social conservatives in the USA. In an interview with British reporter Maureen Cleave,Lennon had offered his opinion that Christianity was dying and that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus now". When the interview was reprinted in a teenage fan magazine in the USA, a backlash developed in the American South's "Bible belt." Lennon apologised,but South Africa banned airplay of their records until 1971.

Capitol Records' release of the Beatles album Yesterday and Today (which used a publicity shot also used in a poster promoting the UK release of "Paperback Writer") created an uproar, as the cover featured the group dressed in butcher's overalls, with raw meat, and mutilated plastic dolls. A popular, though apocryphal, rumour was that this was meant as a response to the way Capitol had "butchered" their albums.

Thousands of copies of the album had a new cover pasted over the original. Uncensored copies of Yesterday and Today command a high price today, with one copy selling for $10,500 at a December 2005 auction.

Presley apparently disapproved of The Beatles's anti-war activism and use of drugs, later asking President Richard Nixon to ban all four members of the group from entering the United States. Peter Guralnick writes, "'The Beatles', Elvis said, [...] 'had been a focal point for anti-Americanism. They had come to this country, made their money, then gone back to England where they fomented anti-American feeling.'" Guralnick added: "Presley indicated that he is of the opinion that The Beatles laid the groundwork for many of the problems we are having with young people by their filthy unkempt appearances and suggestive music while entertaining in this country during the early and middle 1960s."

McCartney later remarked that he "felt a bit betrayed [by Presley's views] ... The great joke was that we were taking drugs, and look what happened to [Elvis]. ... It was sad, but I still love him. ...''Bob Dylan, however, recognised The Beatles' contribution, stating: "America should put up statues to The Beatles. They helped give this country's pride back to it."

In August 1966, at the end of the last U.S. tour, The Beatles had performed their final commercial concert at Candlestick Park, San Francisco. In November they began recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Nearly seven hundred hours of studio time were devoted to recording the album, and the elaborate musical complexity of the result, created using only four-track recording technology, astounded contemporary artists seeking to outdo The Beatles.

After hearing "Strawberry Fields Forever", Beach Boys' leader Brian Wilson felt he had been usurped and spent years in bed.

1967

Sgt. Pepper was released in June 1967, and the same month, the group performed "All You Need Is Love" to TV viewers worldwide using the first live global television link.In August 1967, The Beatles met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for the first time.

While The Beatles were at a weekend Transcendental Meditation retreat with the Maharishi in Bangor, Epstein's assistant Peter Brown called to tell them that Epstein had died.

The coroner ruled Epstein's death an accidental overdose, but the press speculated it was a suicide at least in part because of a rumour that a suicide note was discovered among Epstein's possessions.

Lennon said that Epstein's death marked the beginning of the end for the group: "I knew that we were in trouble then ... I thought, We've fuckin' had it now".

Epstein had been in a fragile emotional state due to issues surrounding his personal life, and stress related to his business relationship with The Beatles, as his management contract with them was due to expire in the fall of 1967, and he worried that The Beatles might not renew his contract, based on their discontent with his handling of business matters, including Seltaeb; the company that handled Beatle merchandising rights in the United States. Epstein's death left the group disoriented and fearful about the future.

Lennon said later, "I didn't have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music and I was scared".

In the winter of 1967-1968, The Beatles received their first major negative reviews for the Magical Mystery Tour TV film.

1968

After relying on Epstein since the start of their success, the group turned to the Maharishi as their guru.

They arranged to spend three months in India with him at his ashram in Rishikesh. Although Starr returned to England after ten days,the time the remaining members spent in India was one of their most creative periods.During February, March and April 1968, they composed dozens of songs, seventeen of which were recorded for The Beatles, popularly known as The White Album.

Yanni Alexis Mardas, The Beatles' electronics technician referred to as Magic Alex or "the Greek wizard", had accompanied the group to the ashram. Mardas expressed the view that the Maharishi was attempting to manipulate them.

Near the end of the three-month visit he convinced the group that the Maharishi was not all he had seemed.

Lennon's anger led him to write a song called "Maharishi" to make his opinion known, but the title was changed to avoid a legal suit, becoming "Sexy Sadie".

McCartney said, "We made a mistake. We thought there was more to him than there was".

On returning from India The Beatles formed Apple Corps, which Epstein had planned to do, as a way of creating a tax-effective company structure.

The album Magical Mystery Tour proved popular in the U.S., setting a new record in its first three weeks for highest initial sales of any Capitol album.

The Beatles, the first Apple Records album release, was also popular, reaching #1 in the UK and the U.S. among other countries.

But during recording sessions for the album, divisions and dissent had started to drive the group apart, and Starr had quit the band for a period, leaving McCartney to perform drums on several tracks.

1969–1970

In January 1969, The Beatles began a film project documenting the making of their next record, which was originally titled Get Back. During the recording, the band played their final live performance on the rooftop of the Apple building at 3 Savile Row, London, on 30 January 1969. Most of the performance was filmed and later included in the film Let It Be. The project was put aside, but was later mixed and orchestrated by the American producer, Phil Spector. Conflict arose within the band regarding the appointment of a financial adviser, the need for which had become evident without Epstein to manage business affairs. Lennon favoured Allen Klein, who had negotiated contracts for several UK bands including The Rolling Stones during the British Invasion, but McCartney's choice was John Eastman.

Agreement could not be reached, so both were appointed, but further conflict ensued and financial opportunities were lost.^[98] The Beatles recorded their final album, Abbey Road, in the summer of 1969. The completion of the song "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" for the album, on 20 August 1969, was the last time all four Beatles were together in the same studio. Lennon announced his departure to the rest of the group on 20 September 1969, but agreed that no public announcement would be made until a number of legal matters were resolved. Their final new song was Harrison's "I Me Mine", recorded 3 January 1970 and released on the Let It Be album. It was recorded without Lennon, who was in Denmark at the time.

In March 1970, the Get Back session tapes were given to Spector, who had previously produced Lennon's solo single "Instant Karma!". Spector's Wall of Sound production values went against the original intent of the record, which had been to record a stripped-down live performance. McCartney was deeply dissatisfied with Spector's treatment of "The Long and Winding Road", and attempted (unsuccessfully) to halt the release of Spector's version.

McCartney publicly announced that he had left The Beatles on 10 April 1970, a week before releasing his first solo album, McCartney. Pre-release copies of McCartney's album included a press release with a self-written interview, explaining the end of his involvement with The Beatles and his hopes for the future.

On 8 May 1970, the Spector-produced version of Get Back was released as Let It Be, followed by the documentary film of the same name. The Beatles' partnership was not dissolved until 1975, even though McCartney had filed a suit for the dissolution on 31 December 1970.

Post-breakup

1970s

Apple Building at 3 Savile Row, site of the Let It Be rooftop concert

Shortly before and in the years immediately following the official dissolution of the group, all four Beatles released solo albums. Some of their albums featured contributions by other former Beatles; Starr's Ringo (1973) was the only one to include compositions and performances by all four, albeit on separate songs. Harrison arranged the Concert For Bangladesh in New York City in August 1971, along with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. Other than an unreleased jam session in 1974 (later bootlegged as A Toot and a Snore in '74), Lennon and McCartney never recorded together again.

In the wake of the expiration (in 1975) of The Beatles' contract with EMI-Capitol, the American Capitol label, rushing to cash in on its vast Beatles' holdings and freed from the group's creative control, released five LPs: Rock 'n' Roll Music (a compilation of their more uptempo numbers) The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl (containing portions of two unreleased shows at the Hollywood Bowl), Love Songs (a compilation of their slower numbers) Rarities (a compilation of tracks that either had never been released in the U.S. or had gone out of print) and Reel Music (a compilation of songs from their films). There was also a non-Capitol-EMI release entitled Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962, which was a recording of a show from the group's early days at the Star Club in Hamburg, which had been taped on a basic recording machine with one microphone.

Of all these post-breakup LPs, only the Hollywood Bowl LP had the approval of the group members. Upon the American release of the original British CDs in 1986, these post-breakup Capitol American compilation LPs were deleted from the Capitol catalogue.

1980s

Lennon was shot and killed on 8 December 1980, in New York City. In May 1981, Harrison released "All Those Years Ago"; a single written about his time with The Beatles. It had been recorded the month before Lennon's death, with Starr on drums, but was later overdubbed with new lyrics as a tribute to Lennon. McCartney and his wife, Linda McCartney, contributed backing vocals to the track.In April 1982, McCartney released his Tug of War album, containing his tribute song to Lennon, titled "Here Today".