There was this band out of Liverpool, see? And they made music and had a lot of fans. The end.

There is no way to do justice to the Beatlemania phenomenon in anything under 500 pages of closely written texts. Pictures would be good too, and song samples just to make it a full media experience.

The Beatles could have been just another British Invasion band but through talent, innovation and dedication they became theband, recognized the world over for their fearless foray into music legend.

John, Paul and George met as teenagers and formed a band with their friend Pete Best, a drummer. The time was 1957 and the quartet named themselves the Beatles, starting a long stint in the clubs of Hamburg, West Germany. They were a big hit with the Hamburgers (what? that's what they're called), though they had to leave the country due to George's being underage.

Back in England, the Beatles found new fans and a loyal following grew quickly enough to necessitate a move to London, in hunt of a recording contract. Music store manager Brian Eppstein took the boys under his wing and set forth in his new role as the band's manager. Eppstein made some changes to the Beatles, most notably replacing Pete Best with Ringo Starr.

Signed to an EMI subsidiary, the Fab Four had their first hit with "Love Me Do," featuring "P.S. I Love You" on the B-side. Clad in mod suits and ties and sporting similar moptop hairdos, the Beatles set hearts afire across the country, making even tone-deaf girls swoon. The Lennon/McCartney writing partnership was well established and the two shared credit for most of their songs.

And what songs they were. Influenced by early American rockers like Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, the Beatles brought their own unique twist to music and could also harmonize like nobody's business. The band led the British Invasion to America who took Beatlemania and made bigger and crazier. The ground was prepared by the release of Meet the Beatles, a compilattion of the band's singles that drove American teenagers to a frenzy.

The Beatles landing at JFK in 1964 is as iconic as the moon landing a few years later, which is a fact you can marvel at or lament, depending on your perspective. Their subsequent appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was watched by half the country and you could hardly hear the boys play over the screaming in the audience.

Right at the height of the Beatles' popularity, the mockumentary A Hard Day's Night was released in theaters, showcasing their music and their quirky sense of humor. The movie was a critical and popular success and was followed by the spy spoof Help!. Meanwhile, more #1 hit streamed in a constant flow from the band and it was obvious the Beatles were more than a fad.

It was time for the band to take their style to the next level, which they did with the release of Rubber Soul that augmented their pop sound with rock, ballads, folk and even a sitar arrangement in "Norwegian Wood." Critics praised the new direction the band was taking and fans considered every tune as golden. In fact, the fans couldn't leave the Fab Four alone. Live concerts were harrowing experiences for the band member because of the adulating, hysterical crowds that shadowed their every step. In 1966, the Beatles gave a farewell performance in San Francisco and retreated into the recording studio.

Amidst rumors of a possible breakup, the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club, widely regarded as the epitome of rock n' roll albums. Their music style had continued to evolve toward the era's psychedelic influence and songs like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and the somber "She's Leaving Home," coexisted inside a very attractive package of album cover art. The collage on the front of the album is another world-famous image that has been imitated a thousand times in every medium.

Eppstein died of an overdose in 1967 and the band decided to manage themselves under their newly formed label, Apple Music. Their next #1 album was Magical Mystery Tour which was just great as their earlier work but also showed the different directions the individual members of the band were taking in their careers. Lennon was inspired by his muse, the conceptual artist Yoko Ono, and experimented widely in his compositions; Paul wanted to explore complex melodies and arrangements; and George Harrison was developing his own--superb, as it turns out--songwriting skills.

Another movie, titled Yellow Submarine, featured the band in animated form though the actual Beatles only appeared briefly at the end. In 1968, they released a self-titled album, which everyone knows as The White Album which illustrated further the gradual professional and personal estrangement within the band. Around this time, rumors that Paul had died traveled at lightning speed around the world, fueling endless speculation about cover-ups and body doubles (he's still alive, don't fret).

Tension and disagreements kept mounting and the Beatles finally split up after the release of their final studio album, Abbey Road. The fans were despondent but the living legends were now free to pursue solo careers that were as successful as their time in Beatles-land. The 1970 breakup didn't stop the re-release of old Beatle material but pleas for a reunion went unheeded by the former bandmates. John Lennon's tragic death in 1980 at the hands of a crazed fan brought an end to any hope of reuniting the band and plunged the entire world into deep mourning for John's lost life and talent.

After decades of legal wrangling, Apple Music was able to release never before heard recordings of studio and live sessions from the Beatles. A comprehensive collection of the band's singles was released in the late 90s, featuring every UK and US single in chronological order and reaching the #1 spot on the charts. That was a miniscule taste of the power of Beatlemania, alive and well in the 21st century.