All You Need Is This Beatles Quiz

Even though he hated soloing, Ringo Starr did it exactly once on “The End,” a track off the album “Abbey Road” that featured solo turns by all four Beatles. It was also the last track that all four Beatles ever recorded together, as suggested by its title.

Sometimes written as the “Quarry Men,” the group was founded by John Lennon and mostly played “skiffle” music — a British precursor to rock ‘n’ roll. The lineup was extremely fluid and at one point featured a 14-year-old George Harrison on guitar. The group finally stabilized once Paul McCartney joined.

“Come Together” was originally written as a rally song for activist and LSD enthusiast Timothy Leary for his campaign to unseat Ronald Reagan as the governor of California in 1969. Leary’s campaign slogan was “come together, join the party.” After Leary’s campaign ended, John Lennon re-tooled the song for the Beatles. Leary was not pleased and accused Lennon of “stealing” the song.

After the Fab Four split up, George Harrison, the so-called "quiet Beatle," made some noise as the first member of the group to have a solo song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In December 1970, Harrison's single "My Sweet Lord / Isn't It a Pity" took the top spot, rising above the previous week's No. 1, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "The Tears of a Clown," which dropped to No. 3.

The Beatles' "Abbey Road" album cover may be the most famous album cover of all time. It shows the Fab Four walking single file across the now-famous London street, with John Lennon leading the way ahead of Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, respectively. Photographer Iain Macmillan captured the iconic shot (along with five others that weren't used) on August 8, 1969. He chose the image in question because "it was the only one that had their legs in a perfect 'V' formation."

The Beatles got their start playing covers in nightclubs around Liverpool, England, and Hamburg, Germany, in the early 1960s. Then, in January 1962, the band hired Brian Epstein to be their manager, and Epstein secured a record contract for his new clients at Parlophone, an imprint of the music giant EMI. Soon after, the Beatles headed to the recording studio to cut their first tracks, including the now-famous recording of "Love Me Do," which became the band's debut single.

Recording what became known as “The White Album” was frequently difficult — so much so that at one point Ringo temporarily quit the band. In his place, Paul stepped behind the kit, turning in a hard-rocking beat for “Back in the USSR.”

On the cover of the Beatles’ 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the group is dressed in colorful military-inspired outfits and surrounded by dozens of movie stars, philosophers, musicians, and more, including Mae West, Carl Jung, and Edgar Allan Poe. The famous figures aren’t totally random — they all have some significance to one of the band members.

The musical impact of the Beatles can still be felt today, decades after the release of their final studio album, "Let It Be," which debuted in May 1970. Interestingly, much of the album was recorded prior to the release of their penultimate album, "Abbey Road," but "Abbey Road" came out first. The Fab Four never recorded another album together, although several compilations of their greatest hits have been released in the years since.

When the Beatles were recording the White Album in 1968, George Harrison was reportedly irritated that some of his bandmates weren't taking his new song seriously, so Harrison brought in a heavy hitter to ensure that "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" couldn't be ignored. He invited his friend Eric Clapton to record the lead guitar. Clapton's uncredited lead guitar made it to the final version of the song on the White Album, and he performed the song live with Harrison on multiple occasions.

Though credited to Lennon-McCartney, the lyrics to "Hey Jude" were written solely by Paul McCartney as a message to John Lennon's son, Julian. When Lennon started a relationship with Yoko Ono in the late ‘60s, he left his first wife, Cynthia, and their son Julian behind. McCartney drove out to their home to cheer them up, which led to his creation of the song. He eventually changed the lyrics from "Jules" to "Jude.” "Hey Jude" was released in August 1968 and spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Please Please Me” was released in 1963, after the Beatles recorded 10 of the album's 14 tracks in a single day. Prior to the album's release, the title track had already reached number one on U.K. charts, and the album would be number one in the country for 30 weeks.

In addition to being the band's lead guitarist, George Harrison was interested in Eastern instruments and taught himself to play the sitar. After its inclusion on "Norwegian Wood," other popular bands started using the instrument, too.

Before he had the lyrics for “Yesterday,” Paul McCartney came up with the now-iconic melody after hearing it in a dream. In order to remember the tune, he quickly put in the placeholder lyrics: “Scrambled eggs, baby I love scrambled eggs.”

When producer George Martin invited the Beatles to the Abbey Road studio, he was initially underwhelmed by their sound. He decided to give them a recording deal anyway, and went on to produce all of their studio albums.

Raised mostly by his aunt, John Lennon had an unusual relationship with his mother, who was absent for much of his childhood. She saw him perform with his band once before she died in a car accident, and he later memorialized her in the song “Julia” off “The White Album.”

Released in 1967, “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” sold a whopping 32 million copies. It also redefined the band's musical style, in addition to shaping the future of pop music.

Born in 1940 as Richard Starkey, Ringo Starr was born just a few months earlier than fellow Beatle John Lennon. He adopted his stage name in 1959 as the drummer for another band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.

Long before Apple Inc. was in the music business or even existed as a computer company, the Beatles were releasing music under the label Apple Records. The London-based studio was formed in the wake of the death of their legendary manager, Brian Epstein, and was intended to be an artist-centric alternative to traditional record labels.

Some 73 million viewers (equivalent to 45.3% of households with a TV at the time) tuned in at 8 p.m. on February 9, 1964, to see the Beatles make their live U.S. television debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show." The band opened with "All My Loving" and also performed "Till There Was You" and "She Loves You," all of which were accompanied by the sounds of shrieking audience members.

The 1969 album “Abbey Road” features one of music’s most recognizable album covers, depicting the Fab Four crossing a crosswalk. The keenest eyes may catch the fact that Paul McCartney is barefoot in the photo, despite crossing an urban street. McCartney once told “LIFE” magazine that he was walking barefoot because it was hot out (though he was possibly being cheeky) while others have provided conflicting reports stating McCartney took the shoes off because they were too tight, or even that he did so for no reason.