The Beatles were a band.
Beatlemania was the intense fan frenzy directed towards the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s . John Winston Ono Lennon , ( born John Winston Lennon ; 9 October 19408 December 1980 ) was an English guitarist , singer , and songwriter who co-founded the Beatles , the most commercially successful and musically influential band in the history of popular music . Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles . The Beatles . They acquired the nickname `` the Fab Four '' as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year , and by early 1964 became international stars , leading the `` British Invasion '' of the United States pop market .