THE Beatles is one of the biggest bands in musical history.
Rising to fame in the 1960s, they quickly became music legends, but how many albums did they make?
The Beatles – pictured together in 1963 – made a total of 12 albumsCredit: Getty
How many albums did The Beatles make?
The Beatles made a total of 12 UK albums throughout their time as a band.
The Fab Four of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, released their core albums throughout their seven years together from 1963-1970.
Please Please Me – 1963
Please Please Me was The Beatles debut album in 1963Credit: Alamy
The Beatles’ first album was released in 1963 and was called Please Please Me.
Eight of the album’s 14 songs were written by Lennon and McCartney.
At the time it was unusual for a group to write their own material but they soon proved how talented they were.
The Fab Four’s debut single Love Me Do, released in October 1962 before the album came out, only reached No17 in the UK charts, but was a No1 hit in the US in 1964.
Title track Please Please Me was released in January 1963 and climbed to No2 in the UK.
With The Beatles – 1963
With The Beatles was released in 1963Credit: Alamy
The band released their second album eight months to the day after the first.
No singles were taken from With The Beatles but it came three months after She Loves You became a smash hit, and just seven days before The Beatles became world famous with I Want To Hold Your Hand.
The album features Roll Over Beethoven, You Really Got A Hold On Me, and Please Mr Postman.
A Hard Day’s Night – 1964
A Hard Day’s Night was The Beatles third album in 1964Credit: Alamy
1964 saw A Hard Day’s Night released which was recorded over nine non-consecutive days.
It was the band’s first album to feature all original material.
The band had to fit recording around their busy schedule now that they were world famous.
The title track reached No1 across the world, including the UK, US and Australia, as did single Can’t Buy Me Love.
Beatles For Sale – 1964
Credit: Alamy
The Beatles’ fourth album was recorded at the height of their fame.
The recording of Beatles For Sale began on 11 August 1964, just two months after the release of A Hard Day’s Night.
Although it wouldn’t be released until December, their hectic schedule meant they had to fit it around their other commitments.
It reached No1 in the UK album charts and featured the song Eight Days A Week.
Help! – 1965
Help! was the title of a Beatles film and albumCredit: Alamy
Help! was the soundtrack to the group’s second feature film.
It contained 14 songs: 10 by Lennon and McCartney, two more by Harrison, and a further two cover versions.
Ticket To Ride and title track Help! were put out as singles with both topping the charts.
Rubber Soul – 1965
Rubber Soul was released in 1965Credit: Handout
Rubber Soul was the band’s sixth album and was released in 1965.
As they matured from their earlier music, this album saw The Beatles take on a slightly different style.
McCartney said about the album: “In October 1965, we started to record the album. Things were changing.
“The direction was moving away from the poppy stuff like Thank You Girl, From Me To You and She Loves You.”
The album’s release was accompanied by the non-album double A-side single Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out, which stayed at No1 for five weeks.
It featured iconic track Michelle, which was never released as a single in the UK but topped the charts across Europe.
Revolver – 1966
Revolver saw The Beatles head in a different directionCredit: Getty – Contributor
Revolver signalled the complete change of The Beatles in terms of experimenting in the music studio.
It is often considered to be the group’s finest body of work, and showed all four members of The Beatles working together.
Double A single Yellow Submarine and Eleanor Rigby reached No1 for four weeks in 1966.
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 1967
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is probably the band’s most well-known albumCredit: Handout
Recorded in over 400 hours during a 129-day period, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band kicked off the 1967 Summer of Love.
It was instantly recognised as a major leap forward for modern music.
They made use of orchestras and other hired musicians, and combined a variety of musical styles.
The title track and With A Little Help From My Friends, featuring Ringo on lead vocals, was released as a double A single much later in 1978.
The album also included Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and When I’m Sixty-Four.
The White Album (The Beatles) – 1968
The self-titled album The Beatles is famously known as the White Album.
It was the band’s first double-length release.
It was made up of a total of 30 songs, including Back In The USSR, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Blackbird, and Revolution 1.
Yellow Submarine – 1969
Yellow Submarine accompanied the group’s fourth filmCredit: Alamy
The soundtrack for Yellow Submarine, The Beatles’ fourth film, was the band’s tenth UK album.
It was released in early 1969, just weeks after the White Album.
The album featured singles All You Need Is Love which was at No1 in the UK charts for three weeks.
Yellow Submarine had previously hit the top spot in 1966.
Abbey Road – 1969
Their Abbey Road album cover is one of the most recognisable worldwideCredit: Alamy
Possibly one of their most well known albums, Abbey Road was hugely popular.
It reached No1 in 1969 – and stayed there for an incredible SEVENTEEN weeks.
It is commonly thought that The Beatles knew that Abbey Road would be their final album, and wanted to leave one of the best until last.
However, they denied that they knew they would split soon after.
Double A side single Something and Come Together was released in October 1969 and peaked at No4.
Let It Be – 1970
Credit: Handout
The Beatles’ last album to be released, Let It Be, was mostly recorded in early 1969, before Abbey Road.
Despite being recorded before, they chose to release Abbey Road first.
As well as the title track the album featured The Long and Winding Road.
The band confirmed they had split in December 1970.
Later albums released are:
- The Beatles 1962-1966 (1973)
- The Beatles 1967-1970 (1973)
- Past Masters (1988)
- Live At The BBC (1994)
- The Beatles Anthology 1 (1995)
- The Beatles Anthology 2 (1996)
- The Beatles Anthology 3 (1996)
- Yellow Submarine Songtrack (1999)
- 1 (2000)
- Let It Be…Naked (2003)
- Love (2006)
- On Air – Live At The BBC Volume 2 (2013)
- Live At The Hollywood Bowl (2016)
