The Beatles have been named the quintessential British group by BBC Radio 2 listeners, beating the likes of Queen, The Rolling Stones and Girls Aloud.
The Liverpool-formed group finished ahead of Queen in second place, The Rolling Stones in third place, Pink Floyd in fourth place and Fleetwood Mac in fifth place, who qualified for the vote despite their American members, as the Most of the group was born, they lived. in or possessed British citizenship.
Formed in 1960 and composed of Sir Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Sir Ringo Starr, The Beatles are the best-selling musical group of all time and one of the most successful and influential musical groups, having achieved 18 number one positions in the United Kingdom. singles and 16 number one albums in the UK.
Other acts to be included in the top 30 include The Who, Spice Girls, Blur, Led Zeppelin and The Kinks.
The survey was organized to celebrate National Album Day, which is themed Great British Groups by 2024, and will take place on October 19.
The Beatles were favorites among BBC Radio 2 listeners. From left to right: Ringo Starr on drums, George Harrison on guitar, Paul McCartney on bass and vocals, and John Lennon on acoustic guitar and vocals.
Fleetwood Mac (LR: John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Bob Welch and Christine McVie) in Los Angeles in August 1974
Queen (Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and John Deason)
Psychedelic rock group Pink Floyd poses for a portrait wrapped in pink in August 1968 in Los Angeles. (L to R) Nick Mason, Dave Gilmour, Rick Wright (center front), Roger Waters.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones perform at the Hippodrome de Longchamp on July 23, 2022 in Paris, France
The BBC Radio 2 poll was organized to mark National Album Day, which is themed Great British Groups by 2024, and will take place on October 19.
Listeners voted from a shortlist of 54 acts, spanning the 1960s to the 2010s, put together by a panel including Radio 2 presenters Jo Whiley, Sara Cox, OJ Borg, Vernon Kay, Scott Mills , Trevor Nelson, DJ Spoony and Owain. Wyn Evans.
The chair of the selection panel was the music director of Radio 2 and 6 Music, Jeff Smith, who is also chair of the Mercury Prize judging panel.
He said: “We’ve loved seeing Radio 2 listeners cast hundreds of thousands of votes for their definitive British group, and this top 30 list reflects some of music’s best-selling, best-loved and most established artists to have ever played. achieved incredible success worldwide throughout the decades.’
The show will air from 1pm to 3pm on 19 October as part of a day of National Album Day programming and can be heard now on BBC Sounds.
Also on that day Tony Blackburn will play exclusively with British bands at Sounds Of The 60s from 6am to 8am, while Your Ultimate British Group: The Extras, which will look at the acts that finished between 31st and 54th on the chart, is available on the BBC. Ring now.
Johnny Marr’s Great British Groups, which will see The Smiths guitarist play some of his favorite British acts, will be broadcast on Radio 2 from midnight to 1am every Sunday from October 13 to November 3.
The Great British Groups That Broke America, a series showcasing British groups who found success in the US, will air in its entirety from 1am to 3am on Saturday 12 October.
All National Album Day programs will be available on BBC Sounds.
