The Beatles
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185 free The Beatles trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
50 free The Beatles trivia questions with answers. Four lads from Liverpool changed music forever. From Beatlemania to their legendary breakup, The Beatles remain the most influential band in history. How well do you know the Fab Four?
30 of 185 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which James Bond film's title song did Paul McCartney write and record with Wings in 1973?
Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die came fast: McCartney read Ian Fleming's novel, began the song the same day, and recorded it with Wings and his old Beatles producer George Martin.
Q 02Which river gave its name to the early-1960s beat scene that produced the Beatles?
The Mersey
The Mersey runs past Liverpool, and 'Mersey Beat' began in 1961 as the title of a local music paper; founder Bill Harry said the beat he had in mind was a policeman's round, not a drummer's.
Q 03Which original bass guitarist left the Beatles to pursue a career as a painter?
Stuart Sutcliffe
Stuart Sutcliffe owned a bass only because his bandmates talked him into it after he sold a painting for £65; he quit in 1961 to study art and died of a brain haemorrhage the next year, aged 21.
Q 04Which single gave the Beatles their first number one on the official UK Singles Chart?
From Me to You
'From Me to You' stayed on top for seven weeks; the band's previous single had led other papers' charts but peaked at number two on the Record Retailer chart that is now treated as official.
Q 05Which Beatles song opens with the line 'all my troubles seemed so far away'?
Yesterday
'Yesterday' arrived so complete that Paul McCartney spent about a month asking people in the music business whether they had heard the tune before, sure he must have borrowed it.
Q 06Which Lennon song shared a February 1967 double A-side single with 'Penny Lane'?
Strawberry Fields Forever
'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane' were held at number two in the UK by Engelbert Humperdinck's 'Release Me', making it the first Beatles single since early 1963 to miss the top.
Q 07What was Ringo Starr's real name?
Richard Starkey
Richard Starkey, born in Liverpool in 1940, became Ringo Starr while drumming for a local band: the stage name nodded to the rings he wore and to country and western music.
Q 08Which American TV show did The Beatles famously appear on in February 1964?
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show rehearsed without George Harrison: he was ill at the hotel, so the band's road manager and a member of the show's staff each stood in for him.
Q 09On what are the four Beatles walking in single file on the Abbey Road album cover?
A zebra crossing
A zebra crossing outside the band's London studio grew so famous through the 1969 sleeve that in 2010 it was given Grade II listed status, the first road crossing to be protected that way.
Q 10Which instrument did Paul McCartney primarily play in The Beatles?
Bass guitar
Bass guitar was not his first job in the group: Paul McCartney began as one of its three guitarists and took over the bass only in 1961, when the original bassist stayed behind in Germany.
Q 11What was the name of The Beatles' manager who discovered them?
Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein had never managed an act when he saw them at a lunchtime show in November 1961; he coaxed them out of leather into suits and made them stop swearing, smoking and eating on stage.
Q 12Which song became the Beatles' first US Billboard Hot 100 number one, in February 1964?
I Want to Hold Your Hand
'I Want to Hold Your Hand' was rushed out early in the US after a Washington DJ, prompted by a teenage listener's letter, played an imported British copy and requests poured in.
Q 13Which animated TV series had Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Paul McCartney voice themselves in separate 1990s episodes?
The Simpsons
Q 21What was the title of The Beatles' first feature film, released in 1964?
A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night was named after an offhand remark by Ringo Starr, who came out of a long day's work that had run on into the dark and said it had been 'a hard day's night'.
Q 22Which 1965 Beatles song was the first on which George Harrison played a sitar?
Norwegian Wood
'Norwegian Wood' got its sitar because Harrison had been intrigued by one that Indian musicians played on a film set that spring; he bought a cheap one in London and tried it when the track needed a new colour.
Q 23Which venue in Liverpool was The Beatles' regular performing spot before they became famous?
The Cavern Club
The Simpsons cast Starr in 1991 and Harrison in 1993; McCartney agreed to appear in 1995 only on condition that Lisa stayed a vegetarian for the rest of the series.
Q 14Which American idol of the Beatles hosted all four at his Los Angeles home in August 1965?
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley received them at his Bel Air house on condition that nobody took pictures or made recordings; the four were so tongue-tied at first that he joked he would go to bed if they just sat and stared.
Q 15Which honour did the Queen give each Beatle in 1965, only for John Lennon to send his back in 1969?
An MBE
An MBE went to each of the four at Buckingham Palace; Lennon's note returning his blamed Britain's part in the Biafra and Vietnam wars and, deadpan, his single 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts.
Q 16Which comedy did George Harrison rescue by founding HandMade Films after EMI pulled its funding?
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Monty Python's Life of Brian lost EMI's money just before filming, so Harrison, a fan who wanted to see it made, raised the budget against his own house: the costliest cinema ticket ever, the Pythons joked.
Q 17Which pop star bought the company that owned most Beatles song copyrights in 1985?
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson bought ATV Music a couple of years after Paul McCartney, his duet partner on 'Say Say Say', had explained to him how lucrative owning song publishing could be.
Q 18John Lennon, born in October 1940, was given a middle name honouring which wartime figure?
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was Britain's prime minister when Lennon was born; in 1969 Lennon added 'Ono' by deed poll and called himself John Ono Lennon, though official documents went on using John Winston Ono Lennon.
Q 19Which Abbey Road track did George Harrison write in a friend's garden while skipping a business meeting?
Here Comes the Sun
'Here Comes the Sun' came to Harrison on a spring day in 1969 when he skipped a meeting at Apple, which he said had become 'like school', and walked round the garden with a borrowed guitar.
Q 20Which British children's TV series did Ringo Starr narrate for its first two series in the 1980s?
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, launched in 1984, had Starr as its first storyteller, and the job grew: he went on to appear on screen as Mr. Conductor in its American spin-off, Shining Time Station.
The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz cellar and came round to rock only later; the Beatles first played it at lunchtime on 9 February 1961 and gave their last show there in August 1963.
Q 24Which Abbey Road track closes side one by cutting off dead in the middle of a riff?
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' is about Yoko Ono, and Lennon defended its few, repeated words by saying that a drowning man doesn't make polite speeches: 'you just scream'.
Q 25At which San Francisco stadium did the Beatles give their last full public concert, on 29 August 1966?
Candlestick Park
Candlestick Park was a farewell only the band knew about: Paul McCartney had their press officer tape the show on a hand-held recorder, and the 30-minute cassette ran out during the last song.
Q 26Which song was the A-side of the Beatles' first single, released in October 1962?
Love Me Do
'Love Me Do' was recorded with three different drummers: Pete Best at the EMI audition, Ringo Starr, and session man Andy White, booked because the producer did not yet trust the new arrival.
Q 27At which outdoor venue did The Beatles set a concert attendance world record in August 1965?
Shea Stadium
The Beatles played Shea Stadium in New York on August 15, 1965, to approximately 55,600 fans, setting a world record for the largest audience at a concert at the time. The screaming was so loud the band could barely hear themselves play.
Q 28What meditation technique did The Beatles study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India?
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation took the band to the Maharishi's ashram at Rishikesh in early 1968; with little to do but meditate and play acoustic guitars, they wrote most of their next double album there.
Q 29Which label rejected the Beatles' 1 January 1962 audition and signed the Tremeloes?
Decca
Decca chose Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, who auditioned the same day, partly because they were a local band from Dagenham and easier to work with than one based in Liverpool.
Q 30Which keyboardist received a rare credit on a Beatles single, released as 'The Beatles with' him in 1969?
Billy Preston
Billy Preston was brought into the tense January 1969 sessions by George Harrison, an old friend; his easy-going presence calmed the room, and the band asked for his name to go on 'Get Back'.