Former
Rolling Stone associate editor
Robert Greenfield compared the Beatles to
Picasso, as "artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original ... [I]n the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive ..." They not only sparked the British Invasion of the US, they became a globally influential phenomenon as well.
[nb 15]
Their musical innovations and commercial success inspired musicians worldwide. Many artists have acknowledged the Beatles' influence and enjoyed chart success with
covers of their songs. On radio, their arrival marked the beginning of a new era; in 1968 the programme director of New York's
WABC radio station forbade his DJs from playing any "pre-Beatles" music. They helped to redefine the album as something more than just a few hits padded out with "
filler", and they were primary innovators of the modern music video. The Shea Stadium show with which they opened their
1965 North American tour attracted an estimated 55,600 people, then the largest audience in concert history; Spitz describes the event as a "major breakthrough ... a giant step toward reshaping the concert business". Emulation of their clothing and especially their hairstyles, which became a mark of rebellion, had a global impact on fashion.
According to Gould, the Beatles changed the way people listened to popular music and experienced its role in their lives. From what began as the Beatlemania fad, the group's popularity grew into what was seen as an embodiment of sociocultural movements of the decade. As icons of the
1960s counterculture, Gould continues, they became a catalyst for
bohemianism and activism in various social and political arenas, fuelling movements such as
women's liberation,
gay liberation and
environmentalism. According to Peter Lavezzoli, after the "more popular than Jesus" controversy in 1966, the Beatles felt considerable pressure to say the right things and "began a concerted effort to spread a message of wisdom and higher consciousness".
