An Unfortunate Choice of Words
More than half a century after their 1960s heyday, it is hard to grasp just how big the Beatles were. As their popularity grew in Britain, fueled by hit singles like She Loves You, Please Please Me, and From Me to You, words failed to adequately express the fans’ frenzied adulation. So journalists coined the term “Beatlemania” to describe the hysteria and high pitched screams that accompanied the group wherever they went. That intensity was compared to religious fervor, and for good reason: some fans actually believed that the band had supernatural healing powers.
When they crossed the Pond in early 1964, the Beatles took America by storm. Their performance before an audience of 55,000 at Shea Stadium was the first time that an outdoor stadium had been put to such use. For protection from the crush of their fans, both figurative and literal, the Beatles traveled to their concerts in armored cars. As teenagers screamed with delight, their parents just screamed, unsure what to make of the shaggy-topped foursome. Then in March, 1966, John Lennon said in an interview that the Beatles seemed to be “more popular than Jesus“. As seen below, that created a furor.
