Recommended Reading
A huge amount has been written about The Beatles, to the point that they are very probably the most documented band in history. Books have been written by just about everyone who ever had any connection with the band. Books about the Beatles are released every year, whenever anybody can think of any plausible reason to write. When their back catalogue was remastered and re-released in 2009, every single album charted.
Bursting onto the world stage in 1963, they released 12 albums, 22 singles and 13 EPs in their native UK before their acrimonious split 6 years later. Rarely has a band managed to combine being both the best at what they do with being the most popular at what they do. Their impact was such that their influence can still be felt nearly half a century later.
Despite the murder of John Lennon in 1980 and the death of George Harrison from cancer in 2001, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr continue to tour, working many Beatles songs into their sets. McCartney's 2002 tour was the highest grossing tour of the year, and today he sits right at the very top of rock royalty.