An analysis of the median number of song counts shows some interesting facts: Paul was the most popular Beatle! His median stream count is almost double that of John's.
Turns out John Lennon led the pack, having sung lead on 109 Beatles tunes. Paul McCartney was a very close 2nd with 98. But while Lennon dominated the early Beatles albums (songs like “Please Please Me”), McCartney tended to sing more leads on the band's later recordings.
McCartney was definitely the better musician even Lennon said his guitar skills were only average while McCartney can play over 40 instruments.
Paul McCartney was the bassist for The Beatles, but he played far more instruments than just the bass guitar. Even on the band's records, McCartney jumped from instrument to instrument, taking over for his bandmates. He's a highly accomplished musician, as evidenced by his mastery over dozens of instruments.
Ringo, whose new album Give More Love has just come out, wasn't just the funniest Beatle, the life and soul of those early press conferences; and he wasn't just the best drummer in the Beatles. He was the best drummer for the Beatles. This is a vital distinction to make.
In many respects Paul McCartney was the group's most rounded musician, and possibly even its best guitarist. It was he that devised many of the riffs and even played some of the most memorable solos, such as on Taxman (Revolver), Ticket To Ride and his killer Epiphone Casino riff on Paperback Writer.
Paul McCartney was the best musician in The Beatles. He had brilliant bass skills, was the best pianist in the band and could also play great rhythm and lead guitar. His compositional skills were more melodic than the others. He also went on to play plenty of other instruments.
George Harrison was a better guitarist than John Lennon because George Harrison was more technically proficient than John. John Lennon was a good guitar player but he was not than technically proficient because John didn't pay much attention to technical proficiency.
Paul was undoubtedly the best piano player in The Beatles. Other than George Martin's contributions on the instrument, Paul played most of the piano parts - even on the others' songs.
The former Beatle and prolific songwriter, Paul McCartney is yet another legendary musician that does not read sheet music. What is this? Describing it like 'dots on a page,' he said the other Beatles couldn't read it either. They came up with the sounds together and didn't feel the need to write them down.
“It's impossible to go into a studio and not have traces of what the Beatles did with George Martin. The very idea of taking a three-minute pop song and having the urge to put something more sophisticated on it – a string arrangement or a harpsichord or a choir – he brought that to pop music.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, British rock band The Beatles are top of the list for best-selling artists worldwide, with 183 million units certified sales. Second is Garth Brooks with over 157 million units sales, followed by Elvis Presley with 139 million units.
He has lived music, one can say with utter confidence. The man behind many hits. Paul McCartney's musical genius is beyond dispute. However, the true extent of his exceptional talent as a musician and songwriter may not fully reveal itself.
Whilst there are a couple of figures that made strong claims, including Chuck Berry whom Lennon once described as rock and roll incarnate, we think it's safe to say that old 'Slowhand' himself, Eric Clapton, was Lennon's favourite ever guitarist.
Billy Preston
Preston first met the Beatles in 1962, but his "Fifth Beatle" claim originated in January 1969 when Harrison invited him to join them for recording sessions in order to defuse tensions in the band.
Why did George Harrison believe that Paul McCartney had "ruined" him as a guitarist, as he purportedly said in an interview in the seventies? Not at all. Paul was the better at the standard blues rock leads of the day, but Harrison was a more versatile player and his playing was the result of more influences.
Harrison and Lennon were possibly the closest friends in the group at the time — and following the band's breakup with the guitarist notoriously featuring Lennon's famed Paul McCartney attack song — but their relationship was dramatically withering.
Despite Harrison's accolade, Paul McCartney achieved the greatest chart success through the sheer quantity of music he has released. Macca was the most prolific Beatle whose solo career outlasted the other Beatles, especially both John Lennon and George Harrison, whose lives were taken from them far too early.
Massive influences on the young Harrison were also country singer Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins and of course, the archetypal rock and roller, Gene Vincent, who all take a spot on the list. But perhaps two men can attest to having some of the largest sways over Harrison and his career—two unlikely heroes too.
“The biggest influence on John and me was The Everly Brothers,” he once admitted. “To this day, I just think they're the greatest. And they were different. You'd heard barbershop quartets, you'd heard the Beverley Sisters – three girls – you'd all heard that.
It's easy to see why those two extremely popular British bands were pitted against each other, but when it came to innovations in the songwriting, arrangements, and production of pop music in the 1960s, The Beatles' greatest rivals were The Beach Boys.
George Harrison was given the nickname the “Quiet Beatle” because he was reportedly shy and was often in the background of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. However, his contributions often went underappreciated by fans, who were mainly focused on who sang or wrote each song.
Jimi Hendrix is the most skilled and innovative guitar player of all time, and it's not particularly close.
But while there's plenty of incredible musicians on Harrison's list, there can only be one true favourite, and that has to be Gary Moore.