The Most Influential Rock Stars of the 1960s

Summary

In 1964, girls all across the United States filled venues, almost literally screamed their heads off, and fainted en masse. Almost from the second they played the first note, The Beatles would be hit with the resounding screams, which made it impossible for them to even hear themselves sing. When they made their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in early 1964, they were greeted by young fans who whipped themselves up into such a frenzy that some of them fainted. Beatlemania had struck North America, creating a musical and pop culture phenomenon unlike anything the world had ever seen. At the center of it all was John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the principal songwriting duo who were instrumental in creating the soundtrack of the 1960s, while producing some of the world’s most timeless classics. Together with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Lennon and McCartney propelled The Beatles to unprecedented heights, sparking Beatlemania on two sides of the Atlantic and experimenting with their sound in ways that revolutionized rock and inspired bands across various musical genres.

In the space of just a few years, Bob Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, rose from the obscurity of a small Minnesota town to a position of royalty atop the folk music landscape of the 1960s, with a universal esteem and status on a par with Elvis Presley and The Beatles. In the 1960s, “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A’ Changing” “became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements,” but long after the transition from the ‘50s to the late ‘60s and ‘70s was accomplished, the initially baffling young folk singer who appeared out of nowhere was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for “his profound impact on popular music, and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.”