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?

When you trace rock ‘n’ roll to its origins, all roads lead back to Chuck Berry. He had a great impact on any artist who rose to fame throughout the ‘60s, including the Beatles. Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney credited him with being a huge influence as singers, lyricists, and musicians.

“If you had to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry,” said John Lennon when discussing the musician, “He was writing good lyrics and intelligent lyrics in the 1950s when people were singing ‘Oh baby I love you so’. It was people like him that influenced our generation to try and make sense out of the songs rather than just sing ‘Do wah diddy’.”

Paul McCartney agreed, saying that Berry’s singing and the lyrics he wrote were both a huge influence. “To us, he was a magician making music that was exotic, yet normal, at the same time,” said McCartney. “We learnt so many things from him which led us into a dream world of rock and roll music.”

It’s no secret that Bob Dylan was a huge influence on The Beatles, both because of his unique vocal ability and also because of how he wrote songs. Dylan stayed with the Beatles for most of their work after listening to him, always having some kind of influence on the band, so much so that Dylan became frustrated at songs that seemed to emulate him.

One of those songs was Paul McCartney’s ‘Juniors Farm’, a song which was filled with references to Dylan’s work. It was a bit on the nose, given that not long before Dylan had released his track ‘Maggie’s Farm’. When asked about the seeming overlap, McCartney admitted that Dylan’s song “Definitely was an influence.” 

John Lennon was equally influenced, as it’s well reported that the Beatles’ album Rubber Soul was essentially John Lennon’s attempt at trying to sound like Dylan. “Up till then, it had all been sort of glib and throwaway,” said Lennon when discussing writing the album, “And that was the first time I consciously put my literary part of myself into the lyric. Inspired by Kenneth Allsop, the British journalist, and Bob Dylan.”

The Beatles and The Beach Boys are renowned for their ongoing (albeit friendly) rivalry. Said rivalry brought out the best in both bands, especially once the Beach Boys released Pet Sounds, arguably one of the best albums in history and a piece of music that encouraged the Beatles to buck up their ideas. However, even before that album, The Beatles were deeply moved by the Beach Boys, as they loved how they sang and managed to harmonise.

“We used to admire the singing, the high falsetto really and the very sort of ‘California’ lyrics,” said McCartney, “It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water. First of all, it was Brian’s writing. I love the album so much. I’ve just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life—I figure no one is educated musically ’til they’ve heard that album. I was into the writing and the songs.”