The influence of The Beatles on the music industry is undeniable, but sometimes people don’t realize just how much they still affect everything around us. Plenty of young artists still acknowledge the Fab Four as a source of inspiration. And what’s even more impressive is that it’s not restricted to one genre.
It would make sense for modern rock bands to draw inspiration from the most successful group of all time, but it’s not only bands. Pop singers, rappers, and even DJs feel the influence of The Beatles. Sometimes it’s not that obvious in their music, but the artists name them among their influences. But when it comes to bands like Oasis and singers like Taylor Swift, the songs speak for themselves.
The Beatles’ Influence on Rock and Hip-Hop
The list of artists that The Beatles have influenced is too long to fit into this article, but some examples stand out more than others. For instance, no one would associate hip-hop with the Fab Four, but believe it or not, many rappers cite them as an inspiration. Not only that, but some of them have even sampled their music.
Frank Ocean is one example. The singer and rapper sampled the Beatles classic, Here, There, and Everywhere in his song White Ferrari, pleasantly surprising fans. When asked about it, he explained that The Beatles’ impact on the record that song was in, Blonde, was bigger than just the one sample. “I want to thank The Beatles for almost single-handedly getting me out of writer’s block,” Ocean said after the song became a success. Frank Ocean is not an isolated case, though. Mac Miller, Wu-Tang Clan, Drake, and many others used samples of Beatles songs in their tracks. Those songs were written in the 50s and 60s, and the fact that they can make such a big impact decades later, on a completely different genre, is widely impressive.
Of course, they also had a much more noticeable impact on the rock bands that followed in their footsteps. Oasis is maybe the most obvious example. A rock band from the north of England is bound to look up to the Fab Four, even three decades later. In fact, their sound drew so much from them that the two bands were compared. In 2021, Noel Gallagher called the comparisons “embarrassing” because The Beatles meant “everything” to him.
“They influenced everybody who influenced everybody else, who influenced everybody that came and went. Their influence is absolute. I don’t know a single guy playing the guitar or writing songs that wouldn’t cite The Beatles as an influence.”
The Foo Fighters are another hugely successful band that, by Dave Grohl’s admission, wouldn’t exist without The Beatles. The frontman and former Nirvana drummer explained that, without The Beatles, he “would not be a musician,” and that he learned to play from them. So, it’s safe to say that most rock bands wouldn’t be what they are without John, Paul, George, and Ringo.
Their Influence on Modern Pop Music
When it comes to pop music, The Beatles’ influence has reached the biggest names. Billie Eilish and her brother and songwriting partner, FINNEAS, learned to write songs from listening to The Beatles, according to their mother, Maggie Baird. The siblings were interested in music from a very early age, and Baird, who was also a musician, used Beatles songs to show them how it’s done.
“I always say it was actually the Beatles who taught them to write songs,” the mother explains. “Because the class was for kids, I had to simplify it: ‘Here’s I Want to Hold Your Hand, let’s give these pieces of the song a name.'” Fast-forward a couple of years, and Billie and Finneas were writing together nonstop. Much like Lennon and McCartney, they complement each other and come up with great songs that reach people’s hearts. And none of that would have happened without The Beatles.
The Beatles_ Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years – 2016
1
And then, of course, there’s Taylor Swift. The pop star is, according to Ringo Starr himself, the closest thing to Beatlemania the world has experienced. And the comparison couldn’t be more flattering to her. During a conversation with TIME Magazine, she named Paul McCartney as one of her biggest role models, both as a musician and as a person.
“I look at Paul McCartney and I see how he’s had just this amazing career—he’s created unparalleled art,” she said. “He’s always been known to be kind to people, respectful and also really selfless as a performer.”
In this case, while The Beatles obviously influenced her first, the admiration is mutual. The Fab Four have influenced her songwriting, and in turn, McCartney was inspired by her to write a song. In 2018, he revealed that the song Who Cares? from his album Egypt Station was about Taylor Swift, her fans, and the harassment they faced online. “I was actually thinking about Taylor Swift and her relationship to her young fans and how it’s sort of a sisterly thing,” he explained. “I say, ‘Who cares about the idiots?’ Who cares about all this? Who cares about you? Well… I do.” The Beatles are one of very few bands that stood the test of time this way, and their influence will undoubtedly continue to reach new generations for a long time.