The 20th century is littered with cultural icons: Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Chaplin, Princess Diana, Ray Charles, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and James Brown, among the many. Yet in terms of those individuals who aff ected the broadest swatch of arts and ideas, it’s hard to imagine anyone with a more sweeping infl uence than the Beatles.

Volumes have been written about the four lads from Liverpool who literally changed youth culture overnight, and just as signifi cantly, inspired the rest of the world to embrace those ideas as their own. It wasn’t just the music—although their genius manifested itself in a seismic shift of massive proportions— but also their irreverent outlook, decidedly cool sense of fashion, camera-ready image and irrepressible optimism that lifted society from the cookie-cutter monotony of the 1950s toward the unbounded idealism and unrepressed attitudes embraced by a generation coming of age in the ‘60s. In effect, the Fab Four took the world from shades of gray into a new Technicolor reality. Suddenly, long hair, English accents, imagination and individuality were in. Blandness, conformity and closed minds were defi nitely out.

Above all, there was the music, a sound that revolutionized not only Rock ‘n’ Roll but popular music in general. Although the band acknowledged the influences of their forebears—Elvis, Little Richard, the Everly Brothers and British music hall tradition—they reshaped those sounds into a blend uniquely their own. One would be hard-pressed to find any current artist, regardless of genre, who didn’t in some way give a nod to the impact of the Beatles. Indeed, the rapid trajectory of their musical progression, from 1962’s “Love Me Do,” their first flirtation with the music charts, to their final triumph with the Abbey Road album in 1969—a continuum lasting a mere seven years—marked a progression that’s unrivaled before or since. There were few genres they didn’t impact, be it rock, country, jazz or psychedelia. Even the musical establishment was awed; one of America’s most esteemed composers, Leonard Bernstein, paid homage to their genius. Countless critics and pundits described the Beatles as the Bach and Beethoven of their time.

With the passing of John Lennon and George Harrison, only Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are left to carry the Beatles banner. And only McCartney himself remains of the songwriting trust that he and Lennon forged in etching the bulk of their collective catalog. Over the past 30 years he’s shown increased willingness to embody that legacy by serving up the band’s songs in concert—marking the first time that much of that material was ever actually performed onstage. And as long as Ringo’s still rocking, and McCartney’s making music, a tangible bond to the Beatles remains intact.

Like all great artists, their legacy has been embossed in the world’s mindset for all time. Who would doubt that if we could peer far into the future, generations to come will still marvel at their enduring impact.