The Beatles were successful.
The Beatles . In 1963 their enormous popularity first emerged as `` Beatlemania '' , and as the group 's music grew in sophistication in subsequent years , led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney , they came to be perceived as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the counterculture of the 1960s . The Beatles are the best-selling band in history , with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide . In 2008 , the group topped Billboard magazine 's list of the all-time most successful `` Hot 100 '' artists ; , they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Hot 100 chart with twenty .