(Credits: Far Out / Linda McCartney)
Sat 9 August 2025 18:45, UK
It still applies now, but if you go back to the 1960s and ‘70s, it was borderline impossible to come across anybody making music who wasn’t in some way influenced by the work of The Beatles.
A lot of people who want to look cool will try to tell you that the Beatles are overrated. These people are difficult and not sane. Regardless of your opinion on their music, the cultural milestone of the band came from how much they influenced not just the creation of music, but the way it could be marketed, sold and consumed. The band were the blueprint for so many, to the extent that their influence can still be heard across the board in music today.
Of course, music didn’t begin with The Beatles. Believe it or not, sound existed before the Fab Four strummed out ‘She Loves You’. There are plenty of artists who inspired them, both before they became famous and while they were making music. The creative minds behind the band all had varying tastes, but there were some artists they could all agree were deeply influential.
When it came to singers, they all had some shared opinions, especially Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Many of the artists they praise are given credit both for their vocal ability and their songwriting. So, who are these singers that McCartney and Lennon credited for changing everything about music?
Singers Lennon and McCartney said they changed all:
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