The Beatles have been voted the ultimate British group by BBC Radio 2 listeners, beating Queen, The Rolling Stones and Girls Aloud.
The Liverpool-formed group finished ahead of Queen in second place, The Rolling Stones in third, fourth-placed Pink Floyd and fifth-placed Fleetwood Mac, who qualified for the vote despite their American members, as the majority of the group was born, lived. hold or possess British citizenship.
Formed in 1960 and consisting of Sir Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Sir Ringo Starr, The Beatles are the best-selling musical act of all time and one of the most successful and influential music groups, with 18 UK number one songs. singles and 16 UK number one albums.
Other acts included in the top 30 include The Who, Spice Girls, Blur, Led Zeppelin and The Kinks.
The poll was run in honor of National Album Day, which has the theme of Great British Groups for 2024, and will take place on October 19.
The Beatles were the favorite 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 guitars and vocals
Fleetwood Mac (L-R: John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Bob Welch and Christine McVie) in LA in August 1974
Queen (Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and John Deason)
Psychedelic rock group Pink Floyd poses for a pink-clad portrait in August 1968 in Los Angeles. (L-R) Nick Mason, Dave Gilmour, Rick Wright (front centre), Roger Waters.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones perform at Hippodrome de Longchamp on July 23, 2022 in Paris, France
The BBC Radio 2 poll was run in celebration of National Album Day, with the theme Great British Groups for 2024, and will take place on October 19.
Listeners voted from a shortlist of 54 acts ranging from the 1960s to the 2010s, curated 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 chairman of the jury was Jeff Smith, head of music at Radio 2 and 6 Music, who is also chairman of the Mercury Prize jury.
He said: ‘We’ve absolutely loved watching Radio 2 listeners cast hundreds of thousands of votes for their ultimate British group, and this top 30 chart reflects some of the best-selling, most loved and established British artists worldwide have achieved incredible success. the decades.’
The program will be broadcast on October 19 from 1pm to 3pm as part of national album day programming and can now be heard on BBC Sounds.
The day will also see Tony Blackburn playing exclusively British bands on Sounds Of The 60s from 6am to 8am, while Your Ultimate British Group: The Extras, which looks at the acts who finished between 31 and 54 on the list, will be available is on BBC. Sounds now.
Johnny Marr’s Great British Groups, which will see The Smiths guitarist featuring some of his favorite British acts, airs every Sunday from October 13 to November 3 on Radio 2 from midnight to 1am.
The Great British Groups That Broke America, a series about British groups that found success in the US, airs in full on Saturday, October 12 from 1am to 3am.
All National Album Day programs are available on BBC Sounds.
