The BBC banned the Beatles' song 'A Day in the Life' for 5 years, fearing it encouraged drug use.

The Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows,' the final track from 1966's 'Revolver,' used innovative recording methods—including a rudimentary form of sampling—to redefine the sound of popular music.

Check out a list of the best Beatles songs, from 'Hey Jude' to 'A Day in the Life.'

An American Beatles album featured a bizarre, gruesome image of the band as butchers, which was swiftly recalled.

The Beatles' song 'Taxman' was inspired by Britain's tax structure.

A bootleg video of a 1966 conversation between Bob Dylan and John Lennon has long been a cryptic text for the artists' superfans.

The Beatles were not an immediate success in the US—their label rejected their first two singles, and the band was mocked on the TV show 'American Bandstand.'

After the bitter breakup of the Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney only played music together one more time—at an impromptu studio session in 1974, joined by Stevie Wonder.

Listen to the Beatles' 'Revolver,' the band's groundbreaking 1966 album.

Listen to 'Now and Then,' the Beatles' final song

The Beatles released their final song, "Now and Then," in October 2023, featuring a previously hidden John Lennon vocal. The track was initially shelved due to poor audio quality but was revived with the help of AI to enhance Lennon's performance....

Listen to "Yesterday and Today," the 1966 Beatles album only released in the US.

The Beatles tried to get the rights to make a 'Lord of the Rings' film starring the band members as Gollum, Frodo, Gandalf, and Samwise.

The Beatles stopped touring in 1966, citing frustration with the era's limited sound systems.

The cover of 'Abbey Road' was shot in a quiet London neighborhood in 1969

The unassuming setting became one of the most famous attractions in the city and was the cover of the Beatles' last-recorded album. It was shot in the late 1960s, when the Fab Four was the most famous band in the world.

The Beatles once sued Nike

Nike used The Beatles' "Revolution" in an ad, sparking a $15M lawsuit over the song's use. While The Beatles and Nike ultimately reached an agreement, Nike ushered in the modern practice of using hit songs in advertisements, as opposed to jingles or covers.

Hear how the Beatles became the most influential band on Earth, with guest Conan O'Brien.

Explore all 58 famous figures—including artists, thinkers, politicians, athletes, and other pop culture icons—portrayed on the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album cover.

Fearing the corruption of its youth, Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll in 1956.

Lorne Michaels jokingly offered the Beatles $3K to reunite on 'Saturday Night Live,' which John Lennon and Paul McCartney briefly considered.

Bob Dylan wrote and recorded songs that later became hits when they were covered by artists like Jimi Hendrix, Adele, and Guns N' Roses.

The Beatles' appearance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' in 1964 launched Beatlemania in the US after the band struggled to break through to American audiences.

Paul McCartney announced his departure from the Beatles in a 1970 press release, surprising his bandmates.

The Beatles loved Motown Records, covering some of the label's songs while honing their skills as a club act in Germany.

The American girl groups of the 1950s and '60s had a profound influence on The Beatles, who frequently paid homage to acts like the Marvelettes and the Ronettes

The Beatles' visit with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi helped inspire Western interest in Eastern spirituality

The Fab Four met with the guru—the creator of Transcendental Meditation—in 1968 in Rishikesh, India. The band's George Harrison and his wife had been interested in Indian culture for several years, but the meeting with Maharishi signified a meeting of Western popular culture with Eastern spirituality that would inspire the rising hippie movement.

Explore Abbey Road Studios, the site that invented stereo recording and was the site of most of the Beatles' recordings.

The Beatles' labels released almost twice as many of the band's records in the US to capitalize on the band's popularity.

Paul McCartney said the Beatles' 'Helter Skelter' was about a playground slide, but Charles Manson said it inspired him to orchestrate 9 murders.

LSD fueled a countercultural movement before evolving into a potential therapeutic

As the use of recreational psychedelics became common, authorities were quick to claim LSD had lasting adverse effects, criminalizing the drug and halting scientific study for decades. Over time, LSD's reputation shifted from a potential source of enlightenment to a dangerous drug that could dim a person's future, and back to a possible therapeutic compound.

Watch a 1965 press conference with Bob Dylan where he mocks the media's focus on celebrity.

The Beatles sued technology company Apple in 1978 to defend naming rights to their record label, Apple Corps.

The surgeon who tried to save John Lennon says he can’t forget that night

Frank Veteran was a resident in 1980 on the night John Lennon was shot in New York. For years afterward, he tried to process the sight of seeing the Beatle dying in the hospital, including through art, but he says that the memories from the experience are still vivid.

Some people believe Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike.

How AI helped the Beatles win their eighth Grammy

It’s been decades since the legendary British rock band broke up, yet they still managed to snag a Grammy at the 2025 awards ceremony. This feat is thanks to AI, specifically machine-learning technology, to isolate and clean up different components of a late 1970s recording. This mini-documentary shows how the band's surviving members crafted “Now and Then” with the modern technology.

The Clash's breakthrough hit wasn't listed on ‘London Calling’

“Train in Vain” was a hit in the US, something that hadn’t yet happened for other first-wave punk acts. But the song was added to “London Calling” at the last minute, after the record jackets were already printed, making it one of the more popular “hidden tracks” in popular music.

Billie Holiday's label refused to release 'Strange Fruit,' a protest song about lynching, because of fears of negative reactions from southern retailers.

In 1984, Bob Dylan reimagined himself as the front man of a punk band for a performance on David Letterman's late-night talk show.

Boston police told renowned conductor Igor Stravinsky that he had 'tampered' with 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at a performance in 1944.