<p><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/the-beatles/”>The Beatles</a> remain a popular band decades after they broke up. A few <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/5-musicians-hated-the-beatles-garbage.html/”>musicians hated the band</a>, but millions of people loved them. They sent several singles and albums to the top of the Billboard charts throughout the 1960s, but three Beatles records peaked at No. 2 in the United States because other Beatles albums kept them from getting to No. 1.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-custom-image-1200″><img decoding=”async” width=”1250″ height=”968″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg?w=1200″ alt=”Beatles members George Harrison (from left), Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon display gold records while promoting the movie ‘Help!’ in 1965.” class=”wp-image-3437894″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg 1250w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg?w=640&h=496 640w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg?w=768&h=595 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg?w=1024&h=793 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg?w=1200&h=929 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg?w=260&h=200 260w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg?w=300&h=232 300w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg?w=77&h=60 77w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beatles-albums-peaked-No-2.jpg?w=150&h=116 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Beatles members George Harrison (from left), Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon (plus an unidentified person) with gold records in 1965 | Bettmann</figcaption></figure>
<h2 id=”h-14-beatles-albums-reached-the-top-of-the-u-s-charts”>14 Beatles albums reached the top of the U.S. charts </h2>
<p>The Fab Four released a steady stream of albums from 1963 to 1970. They existed for a short time but achieved incredible success as 14 of their studio albums raced to the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart. Still, the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/first-beatles-album-enter-billboard-200-chart-no-1.html/”>first Beatles album to debut at No. 1</a> was the first anthology compilation released in 1995.</p>
<p>Let’s look more closely at The Beatles albums that peaked at No. 2 because other Beatles albums held the top spot. </p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> We included studio albums only, not greatest hits packages, compilations, or reissues. </p>
<h2 id=”h-1-introducing-the-beatles”>1. ‘Introducing… The Beatles’</h2>
<p>The Fab Four’s U.S. debut sat unreleased for months before finally hitting store shelves in early 1964. <em>Introducing…The Beatles</em> included several of their earliest notable hits, including “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Love Me Do,” plus “Twist and Shout” and several other covers. </p>
<p>It’s impressive that The Beatles’ hit No. 2 with their U.S. debut. The only trouble was that <em>Meet The Beatles</em> dropped just 10 days later. That album featured nearly all original songs, including “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and “All Your Loving.” It reached the top of the Billboard charts less than a month after it came out and kept <em>Introducing… The Beatles</em> from reaching No. 1.</p>
<h2 id=”h-2-something-new”>2. ‘Something New’</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio”><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<div class=”jetpack-video-wrapper”><iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Komm gib mir deine Hand (Remastered 2009)” width=”925″ height=”694″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/6qAazPVLONM?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
</div></figure>
<p>It’s easy to see why this Beatles album peaked at No. 2. Chalk it up to glut and redundancy.</p>
<p>Early July 1964 saw the <em>A Hard Day’s Night Soundtrack</em> hit the shelves in the U.S. <em>Something New</em> entered the world later in the month. The former was tied to a movie that hit North American theaters in early August and featured all original songs. The latter copied over several of the same songs (but not all of them, not even “A Hard Day’s Night”) and added the German-language version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” plus the Ringo Starr-sung Carl Perkins cover “Matchbox.” </p>
<p>Considering the albums shared many of the same songs and were released so close together, it’s not surprising that <em>Something New</em> peaked at No. 2 while <em>A Hard Day’s Night</em> held the top spot for 14 weeks.</p>
<h2 id=”h-3-yellow-submarine”>3. ‘Yellow Submarine’</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio”><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<div class=”jetpack-video-wrapper”><iframe loading=”lazy” title=”The Beatles – Yellow Submarine” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/m2uTFF_3MaA?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
</div></figure>
<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/why-the-early-beatles-records-flopped-in-america.html/”>
Why the Early Beatles Records Flopped in America </a>
</p>
</div>
<p>The song “Yellow Submarine” first appeared on 1966’s <em>Revolver</em>. A <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-supremes-stopped-the-beatles-yellow-submarine-hitting-no-1.html/”>song by The Supremes</a> prevented it from hitting No. 1 as a single. Two years later, The Beatles’ album <em>Yellow Submarine</em> peaked at No. 2. The <em>White Album</em> kept it from hitting the top spot.</p>
<p>The <em>Yellow Submarine</em> album faced a flooded Beatles marketplace. It was similar to <em>Introducing… The Beatles</em> and <em>Something New</em> in that way. The band released the <em>White Album</em> in November 1968. <em>Yellow Submarine </em>dropped<em> </em>in January 1969. It had a bit more breathing room than the other two Beatles albums that peaked at No. 2, but the <em>White Album</em> was also a dense double album that cost more to buy and required more time to fully absorb. </p>
<p><em>Yellow Submarine</em> is more or less two EPs stitched together — Beatles on Side 1 and George Martin’s orchestral arrangements on Side 2. Considering only half of it features the Fab Four, it’s nearly a miracle it reached No. 2.</p>
<p>The Beatles kept The Beatles from hitting No. 1 in the U.S. three times, but most bands would kill for the Fab Four’s results. All three records that peaked at No. 2 received platinum certification (one million units sold) from the <a href=”https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=the+beatles&ti=&lab=&genre=&format=Album&date_option=release&from=&to=&award=&type=&category=&adv=SEARCH#search_section” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Recording Industry Association of America</a>. <em>Something New</em> and <em>Yellow Submarine</em> went gold within a month, and <em>Introducing… The Beatles</em> went double platinum.</p>
<p><em>For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to</em> <a href=”https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWmTM34h0-P7FcCwuA6h6sw/videos”><em>Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel</em></a><em>.</em></p>