The Beatles were the most famous rock band of all time. Following their debut in Hamburg, Germany, they shot to fame in Liverpool during the epic period of Merseybeat. The Beatles were, in fact, the first band to give artistic dignity to pop, paving the way for the British Invasion and an untold success, which still continues today. Their songs represent a model for a multitude of bands. Not only did they mark an epoch in terms of music but were also at the forefront of a cultural and social revolution that included new ideas about politics, religion, sex, fashion and pop art.

Considered one of the major phenomenon of contemporary music, several decades after they officially split up – and after the death of two of the four members – even today, The Beatles still boast an enormous following. Their songs are regularly released in digital version and enriched by the recovery of unpublished material. According to EMI, the record company that retrieved their rights between 1986 and 1987, re-editions of their records have sold over one billion copies.

According to the historic magazine ROLLING STONE, The Beatles represented the most important and influential group of the 20th century: the extent of their influence transcended purely musical boundaries, conditioning the customs, fashion and behaviour of the ‘60’s and not only. Their influence also impacted on the decades that followed, if one considers that even today their experience continues to act as an unparalleled model for entire generations of musicians. Throughout their relatively short discographic history (7 years, from 1963 to 1970), the Fab Four released an enormous amount of material, thanks to the unstoppable creativity of the Lennon-McCartney team of songwriters, including one of the first singles of their future rivals The Rolling Stones ("I Wanna Be Your Man"). Starting from a primitive form of rock’n’roll inspired by blues and rhythm&blues, The Beatles shaped the evolution of rock, developing an eclectic, visceral style, bringing it, for the first time, to the level of a mass phenomenon.

The images that best represent the impact that The Beatles had on society at that time are the scenes of mass hysteria generated at all of their concerts and while touring (magical and mysterious) from one continent to another. They immediately proved to be a commercial phenomenon that had a far reaching effect, directly influencing the cultural and social movements of those times: their short black leather boots and their dark suits buttoned at the top, their page-boy haircuts, invented almost by chance during their debut concerts in the public dance halls of Hamburg at the beginning of the ‘60’s. The splendour of Swingin’ London, that had emerged from the darkness of the Second World War, with the black and white checked mini-skirts invented by Mary Quant, worn by Twiggy and displayed in the flea markets of Carnaby Street is associated with The Beatles and Beatlemania. Later on, the image of the Beatles was associated with international cultural movements such as psychedelia, Flower Power and the Hippy Culture: their record covers became objects of art during the period when Andy Warhol’s Pop Art began to flourish. The Beatles incarnated the awakening of western youth in all senses: from an aesthetic (long hair, clothes), artistic (musical influences, that by then were leaning towards Indian music and the avant-garde) and political (pacifism and the opposition to the Vietnam war) point of view.