On Last FM. The Rolling Stones only had 80 members and now they have 2,000 of their fan group in 2007,The Beatles had over 2,000 which is now over 18,000 and the average age of fans is 22 more guys than girls and they are from all over the world. In 2006,2007 and 2008 The Beatles were the # 1 most listened music artists on Last.FM and they are very popular on YouTube and Rate Your Music where many male and female fans in their teens and 20's call them The Greatest Rock Band Ever. They are now the number 1 classic Rock band on there and on Rate Your Music,they are the highest rated music artists out of over 3,000. The Beatles are still rightfully regarded by most people,most rock critics,and many other music and rock artists as The most creative,innovative,and prolific rock
band ever.
In 1995 25 years after they broke up their Anthology CD's went straight to # 1 around the world and I heard a rock DJ say that 40% of the people buying them were teenagers,the same exact thing when their 1CD came out in 2000 30 years after they broke,up and in 2009,39 years after they broke up,they were the second biggest selling artists in the last decade,and their 1CD was the biggest selling album. And their music went to the top soon after it went on iTunes.And soon after their music started streaming on Spotify it became very popular and Billboard reported that 65% of listeners are under 34 years old which means they weren't even born when they broke up in 1970.
The Beatles wrote *plenty* of great rock songs including hard rock on The White Album and Abbey Road and as many have rightfully pointed out Paul invented heavy metal with his 1968 song Helter Skelter and people have also said John's I Want You She's So Heavy on Abbey road was also one of the first heavy metal songs.
Even in their early days they wrote some great rockers that were very rocky for the times, as The All Music Guide said,in their very good review of Past Masters Volume 1 that they proved they could rock really really hard,with John's I Feel Fine from late 1964 which featured the very recorded feedback guitar on a rock song,and Paul's great blues rocker,She's A Woman also from late 1964,and what they called the peerless I'm Down which is Paul's screaming rocker from mid 1965 which they performed even harder rocking, and screaming in August 1965 at Shea Stadium. Also John's You Can't Do That from early 1964,is a great rock song, so is Day Tripper,Paperback Writer, And You're Bird Can Sing,Oh Darling,Hey Bulldog, She Said She Said,Taxman, Revolution,Get Back,Come Together etc