Great group, but not the original "boy band".

Crickets got there first...

If it wasn't for The Beatles we wouldn't have half of these bands on this list. They were the first boyband as well. A lot of musicians are influenced heavily by The Beatles (Oasis for one) and you can't deny the influential success these guys have had and still continue to have on rock and pop music (remastered back catalogue to celebrate The 47th year of The Bealtes and also Beatles Rock Band on X-Box). I doubt we'll ever see a band as globally successful as The Beatles again. I absolutely loved their songs "Strawberry Fields", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Yellow Submarine", "I am the Walrus", "Eleanor Rigby", "Paperback Writer". Their musical influence will continue to live on for many years. Don't believe me? Look at John Lennon.

They're growing on me. I thought I'd give them another chance and I actually quite enjoyed most of Sgt Pepper's. Let's see if the rest of their albums do the same.

They did some good work. And some that was straight up weird.

Great to see people writting in and supporting this fine, but little known British band.

GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT

The beginning of boy bands. New Kids on The Block, NSync, Backstreet Boys, etc., I blame them all on the Beatles.

There is a saying that needs to always be remembered;  "All things can only be fully understood in the proper   context of their time". It's easy for anyone today to look back at The Beatles, or Elvis, or a trend like New Wave or Disco and say "Why was that so popular?" But unless you fully understand the times and environment in which all these things occurred,  you will never understand why.  Ultimately, it comes down to taste, what you like and what you don't like.  I myself do not care how many millions of copies a particular record has sold, if I hate it, I hate it, period, and I think most people feel the same.  The Beatles were innovators, saviors (rock was nearly dead when they arrived), and cultural icons.  I don't care for all of their music, especially some of the silly psychadelic era stuff,  but there is no denying that overall they created good, substantial, memorable music, and more importantly, they spearheaded a cultural revolution unlike anything ever seen before. So when rating them with 1 to 5 stars, keep in mind that you are rating far more than just music.

The was and will every be

Very very very good but still the most overrated band of all time as far as I'm concerned.

Timeless; Loved by many people of many ages.

A great band. I personally prefer their later albums and George Harrison's compositions to many of Lennon & McCartney's.

They may have been innovative at the time and have indeed been influential but in hindsight, there were/are far better bands.

Two good singers, one not bad one, not bad musicians generally (on great, one rather poor) and good tunes but are they really any better than a lot of what would be dismissed as pap these days?

I can't help but think that if they'd emerged even a few years later than they did, they wouldn't have been what they became. Had they emerged as much as a decade later, they would have been considered lightweights.

Best rock/pop group ever.

Excellent. Changed the entire course of music.

overrated

Who could possibly disagree? Look at their entire music catalog. It speaks for itself. Their music stands the test of time.

Best of all time

Any fool that doesn't rate this band a five has not been living on the planet at any time during the past forty years. Check your pulses, you naysayers. You may already be dead. Easily the best group ever. After that, there is a long drop to the number two slot.

SIMPLY THE BEST THEY SET THE WAYS FOR ALL OTHERS AND CHANGED MUSIC CONSTANTLY THEY ARE THE BEST

it wasnt called the british invasion for nothing. they are not my personal favorite but they are great. sgt peppers is my favorite of their albums

go away please.

They wrote some catchy tunes.

Rock pioneers. They took an entire generation from the boy/girl crazy, beach blanket, big hair/sideburns days of the early to mid 60s into the hard rock and roll of the 70s. Some went kicking and screaming, but they ended up there anyway.

Best band ever and no band has ever come close to what the Beatles accomplished.

Rating the Beatles in Best bands is like rating Babe Ruth in Best baseball players. If you don't rank them in the Top-3, you know nothing about rock music. I will say, I greatly prefer old Beatles (Please, Please Me; Ticket to Ride; She Loves You) over new Beatles (Let it Be; Long and Winding Road). I'm not saying the Beatles are my favorite band; but, from a historical context, they are the most important band.

the beatles were a wonderfull band

I was born in 1965 during the middle of The Beatles recording carrer and I have been a huge fan since I was 9 and I got my first Beatles book for my 11th birthday and by the time I was 13 I had every album. I have a very sharp ear for music and I don't like just simple catchy music there has to be alot more there and I'm very picky and I dobn't like a whole lot of artists,and I have always known the Beatles were great especially John Lennon and Paul MacCartney were brilliant song writers and both great singers with great voices,and Paul is a grat bass player and George was a great guitar player too. Brian Wilson said on Nightline in 1995 that their Sgt Pepper album is the single greatest album he's ever heard and that Lennon and McCartney were the greatest song writers of the 20th century. Elton John also said that when he was asked on the CBS morning show who he admired in music. The classical composer and conducter Leonard Bernstein also said they were brilliant and there are many other popular rock stars and groups who also are big fans including The Rolling Stones who were good friends with The Beatles and Mick Jagger was even at four Beatles recording sessions Keith Richards was at two of those sessions with him. As for people saying that they were over rated and a pop band,they were mainly a very creative,innovative *rock* band and I suggest you look up the excellent review The All Music Guide gave them on allmusicgude.com. I would also suggest reading with an open mind, if you can find it in a library the excellent book,The Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn which is a detailed musical diary of every year of their carrer in the recording studio. It truly shows how brilliant,creative,innovative and inventive they really were. Some you might even change your mind and be impressed. All of the engineers(who were also pretty innovative themselves) they worked with are quoted and they were all very imprssed too. Some of these engineers went on to work with other big names,Ken Scot went on to work with David Bowie,Norman Smith went on to work with Pink Floyd,and Alan Parsons was one of their engineers too and also a highly impressed Beatles fan. Even Ozzy Osborne is a big Beatles fan and said he listens to their albums before he goes out on stage.

They came from poor English boys to world famous musicians. THE GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME PERIOD.

I love the Beatles. There are not many bands that make albums where every single song is good.

Although they began to fall with their later albums (The White Album is extremely overrated), their earlier work is great. They are upbeat songs with awesome vocals and great beats.

i dont like them too much but i gotta repect them for being a definitive figure in rock n roll history

i just... love em... nobody can compare..

They shouldn't be that good. But they just are.

No where near the best band ever...just another bubble gum band with a dream who actually had outstanding record sales...nothing more...and rock and roll music would probably actually be alot better off today had they not been so popular...a complete bore...

Wait a minute. The Beatles are so much more than a pop band and they didn't just have a few hits. Try thirty number one songs, more than any other artist in the history of music. Sure their early stuff was pop but there later music is absolutely rock and roll. I think the people who criticize them need to re-evaluate their perceptions. They've probably never even listened to the Beatles. Do yourself a favor guys, pick up the White Album and listen to one of the greatest ROCK albums ever created.

Probably the most over-rated band in history. I could only laugh when that narrator on VH1 said ..then in the 60s The Beatles came and saved our music souls... What a joke. Sure they had a few catchy tunes, but should that put them at the deified status they are today? I should say not. I also think it's weird how so many consider them rock revolutionists/pioneers, etc. when they were really just a crappy pop band. And John Lennon's remarks regarding Jesus Christ and the Beatles being bigger than God are not only shameful but completely ridiculous; they were bigger than most other bands at the time, sure, but what a sh*t-for-brains thing to say. But he'll have to stand before God one day just like the rest of us.

Pioneers. Absolutely unique in their day. They wrote and performed everything from catchy pop tunes to powerful and timeless classics. Never equalled.. and probably never will be. It's impossible to overstate their contribution to modern music.

The best band ever-sorry, Who fans.