Insane Fact Of The Day: If 'BeatleMania' Had Started During COVID, They’d Be Breaking Up This Summer

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Here's a fun fact that truly blew my mind when it came across my timeline this weekend: if The Beatles had played The Ed Sullivan Show when COVID first started, they'd be breaking up later this year. 

Of course, their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 doesn't necessarily mark the true beginning of their stardom (as they were already pretty big overseas for about a year by then), but it does mark the beginning of 'BeatleMania' worldwide, and it's hard to believe they only lasted about five and a half years more after that - signing contracts finalizing the dissolution of the band in 1970.

There's a little back-and-forth about the exact math in the comments of the original Reddit post that pointed this out….

….but it's more or less correct, and they'd be officially off and onto their solo careers by this Summer. How fucking crazy is that?!

You always hear about the whirlwind that was 'BeatleMania' and how it was "over before you knew it" back then, but COVID truly feels like a couple years ago and contextualizes just how little time they had together. You're telling me everything from 'Help!' to 'Rubber Soul' to 'Revolver' (all recorded/released within a year while on a world tour) to 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' to 'The White Album' to 'Yellow Submarine' to 'Abbey Road' to 'Let It Be' woulda been released/taken place between now and then, and they went from looking like THIS….

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….to looking like THIS….

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….in the span of time between 'Tiger King' on Netflix and now?! Talk about "President Years" - Beatle Years are even harsher! I mean, George Harrison was only 27 here and looks damn near middle-aged! John was 29 and looks like an old wizard! It's fucking insane! We've been in the new New York office for more time than The Beatles spent at the top of the world! You're gonna be able to fit that whole run in the gap between 'The Batman' and 'The Batman Part II'!

Everything about this just melts my brain. Hopefully the upcoming Sam Mendes quadrilogy about The Beatles is a massive success and inspires a newfound interest in the band in the same way 'A Complete Unknown' and Timothée Chalamet were able to do for Bob Dylan and his music recently. I don't think most kids my age realize just how huge and influential they were, or even just how deep their catalogue goes and how great it all is beyond the hits.