Reading Comprehension - The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed
in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison
and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most
influential act of the rock era. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity
first emerged as "Beatlemania", which is a term that describe the
intense fan frenzy directed toward the British band. The phenomenon began in
1963 and continued past the band's breakup in 1970.
The Beatles
built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year
period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The
core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers,
most notably Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. They gained
popularity in the United Kingdom after their first hit, "Love Me Do",
in late 1962. They acquired the nickname "the Fab Four" as
Beatlemania grew in Britain over the following year, and by early 1964 they had
become international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the
United States pop market. From 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced what many
consider their finest material, including the innovative and widely influential
albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (commonly known as the
White Album, 1968) and Abbey Road (1969).
After their
break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying
lengths. McCartney and Starr, the surviving members, remain musically active.
Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer
in November 2001.
Source: Wikipedia
