5 Beatles Non-Album Singles That Were No. 1 Hits
The Beatles set an impossibly high bar for groups that followed them. They had dozens of top-100 hits during their brief but prolific career, and even when they abandoned songs that didn’t work, they performed well for other artists. Several of The Beatles’ non-album singles became incredibly successful. Let’s look at five of them that went to No. 1.
Note: We considered only original songs that reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts and never appeared on a studio album during The Beatles’ active years. Songs with more weeks at No. 1 rank higher than songs with more time on the charts.
5. ‘Paperback Writer’
- Weeks on chart: 10
- Weeks at No. 1: 2
“Paperback Writer” arrived in May 1966. The tune became an interesting nexus in The Beatles’ sound. It mixed beautiful vocal harmonies that pointed to the group’s not-too-distant past with a biting guitar riff and thundering bass that hinted at the band’s future sonic experimentation.
Paul McCartney said they picked it as the A-side over “Rain” because it was catchier and more immediate. It’s hard to argue with the decision. Still, the more experimental “Rain” — complete with Ringo Starr’s “weird” drum track — held its own, rising to No. 23 during a seven-week stay on the Billboard charts.
4. ‘She Loves You’
- Weeks on chart: 15
- Weeks at No. 1: 2
Once they had their breakthrough in England in early 1963, The Beatles seemed to do no wrong for the rest of their career. (OK, OK — the Magical Mystery Tour film and labored Get Back/Let It Be recording sessions might not have been the wisest choices). To wit: The Fab Four found inspiration for “She Loves You” on a song that wasn’t a hit, but their tune became one of their biggest non-album singles. The 1964 tune lasted nearly three months on the charts.
3. ‘I Feel Fine’
- Weeks on chart: 11
- Weeks at No. 1: 3
John Lennon’s accidental intro set the tone for one of the Beatles’ most successful short-players. He smacked his guitar against something while slinging it on his neck, it produced a ringing, sustained note that resembled a mild feedback tone, and from there, The Beatles launched into a tune that spent three weeks on top of the charts in late 1964.
John’s vaguely blues-inspired song included three-way harmonies with Paul and George Harrison and some fine stickwork by Ringo, who provided a masterclass in ride cymbal playing and Latin rhythms in just over two minutes.
2. ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’
- Weeks on chart: 15
- Weeks at No. 1: 7
The radio and the charts were the only places to hear one of The Beatles’ biggest hits without delirious screaming fans. John and Paul wrote the song in a basement (that of Jane Asher, Paul’s girlfriend at the time), but “I Want to Hold Your Hand” didn’t stay underground for long. It landed in England in November 1963, debuted in the United States in December 1963, and rose to the top of the Billboard charts in February 1964, just before they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” was the song that made Beatlemania a worldwide phenomenon. The chart results prove it. With seven weeks on top, it was nearly the most successful of The Beatles’ non-album singles.
1. ‘Hey Jude’
- Weeks on chart: 19
- Weeks at No. 1: 9
“Hey Jude” was credited to the John-Paul songwriting partnership, but Macca was primarily responsible for The Beatles’ biggest non-album hit song. He wrote the piano-based ballad in mid-1968 as an ode to Julian Lennon, John’s young son who was watching his parents go through a divorce. It debuted on the Billboard chart in mid-September and rose to the top spot by the end of the month.
“Hey Jude” proved that if any group could successfully break the rules, it was The Beatles. The song dominated the charts despite being one of the longest Beatles songs. The delicate melody, steady musical climb to a triumphant peak, and sweet strings and horns that add to the song’s apex helped make it a hit. “Hey Jude” had such a grip on the charts in late 1968 that it stopped a Paul-produced song from reaching No. 1 in the U.S.
The Beatles’ No. 1 hits among non-album singles included some of the band’s most recognizable songs. And we didn’t even include some other songs that appeared in the Billboard top 100, such as “The Ballad of John and Yoko” (No. 8 in 1969), “Ain’t She Sweet” (No. 19 in 1964), and their cover of “Matchbox” (No. 23 in 1964). It’s just another stat that cements The Beatles as one of the most popular and successful groups ever.
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