2. The Beatles! The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon(rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney(bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison(lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr(drums , vocals). Rooted in skiffle and 1950s rock band roll, the group later worked in many genres ranging from the pop ballads to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. The Beatles are the best selling band in history, and over four decades after their break-up, their recordings are still in demand. They have had more number one albums on the UK charts and have held the top spot longer than any other musical act. According to the RIAA, they have sold more albums in the United States than any other artist, and they headed billboard magazines list of all time top hot 100 artists in 2008. They have received 7 Grammy awards from the American National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and 15 Ivory Novella Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, composers and authors. They were collectively included in time magazines compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people.
3. PINK FLOYD With a career now into its sixth decade, album sales in excess of 250 million worldwide, a show stealing reunion appearance at the biggest global music event in history, 'Live 8' in 2005, Pink Floyd remain the most enigmatic of all rock bands.It all began back in the autumn of 1963 when three friends from college formed a band. Having studied architecture together at London's Regent Street Polytechnic, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright joined forces with an assortment of fellow students to start a vaguely jazz-rock band called Sigma 6.By the spring of 1964 Sigma 6 had evolved into The Abdabs (or Screaming Abdabs). Remarkably they even garnered some press attention with a feature in an early edition of West One, the Polytechnic's student newspaper, citing their line-up as: Nick Mason (drums); Rick Wright (rhythm guitar); Clive Metcalf (bass); Roger Waters (lead guitar); and Keith Noble and Juliet Gale (singers).To put relationships into context, more than 10 years earlier in Cambridge, Waters attended the same primary school as one Roger Barrett, who in turn went on to attend Cambridgeshire College of Arts & Technology with fellow local guitarist David Gilmour.Barrett, now 18 and affectionately known as Syd, also moved to London having gained a scholarship to attend Camberwell School of Art and Crafts. Waters invited him on board just as Wright was departing London to take a travelling sabbatical having decided architecture was not his forte.Over the course of the next few months the trio of Barrett, Waters and Mason flirted with various line-ups that included the talents of guitarist Radovan 'Bob' Klose, vocalist Chris Dennis and even their live-in landlord Mike Leonard on keyboards, performing at private parties and local pubs variously as Leonard's Lodgers, Spectrum Five, and The Tea Set.
4. Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English Punk Rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years and produced only four singles and one studio album, never mind the bollocks, here the sex pistols, they are regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music. The Sex Pistols originally comprised vocalist Johnny Rotten, Guitarist, Steve Jones, Drummer, Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock. Matlock was replaced by Sid Vicious in early 1977. Under there management of impression Malcolm McLaren, the band provoked controversies that captivated Britain. Their concerts repeatedly faced difficulties with organizers and authorities, and public appearances often ended in mayhem. Their 1977 single ‘God Save The Queen” attacking Britons’ social conformity and deference to the Crown, precipitated the ‘last and greatest outbreak of pop based moral pandemonium.
5. Queen Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury(lead vocals, piano) , Brian May(guitar, vocals) , John Deacon( bass guitar, vocals) , and Roger Taylor ( drums, vocals ). Queens earliest works were influenced by progressive rock , but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works, incorporating more diverse and innovative styles in their music. Before joining Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had been playing together in a band named Smile with bassist Tim Staff ell. Freddie Mercury (then known by his birth name of Farrakhan/ Freddie Bulgaria) was a fan of Smile, and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques after Staff ell's departure in 1970. Mercury himself joined the band shortly thereafter, changed the name of the band to 'Queen', and adopted his familiar stage name. John Deacon was recruited prior to recording their eponymous debut album (1973). Queen enjoyed success in the UK with their debut and its follow-up, queen (1974), but it was the release of sheer heart Attack (1974) and a night at the opera(1975) that gained the band international success. The latter featured “bohemian rhapsody", which stayed at number one in the Uk singles chart for nine weeks; it charted at number one in several other territories, and gave the band their first top ten hit on the us billboard hot 100. Their 1977 album, news of the world contained two of rock's most recognisable anthems, “we will rock you and “we are the champions".
