The Beatles named as the ultimate British group by Radio 2 listeners

The Beatles have been named as the ultimate British group by BBC Radio 2 listeners, beating the likes of Queen, The Rolling Stones and Girls Aloud.

Your Ultimate British Group will reveal listeners’ top 30 acts, when it is presented by Mark Goodier on the BBC station, after they were asked to vote for their favourite five.

The Liverpool-formed group finished ahead of Queen in second, The Rolling Stones in third, fourth-placed Pink Floyd and fifth-placed Fleetwood Mac, who qualified for the voting despite their American members, as the majority of the group were born, lived in or held British citizenship.

Formed in 1960 and made up of Sir Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Sir Ringo Starr, The Beatles are the best-selling musical act of all time, and one of music’s most successful and influential groups, having achieved 18 UK number one singles and 16 UK number one albums.

Other acts to be included in the top 30 include The Who, Spice Girls, Blur, Led Zeppelin and The Kinks.

The poll was organised in celebration of National Album Day, which has the theme of Great British Groups for 2024, and will take place on Saturday October 19.

Listeners voted from a shortlist of 54 acts, which ranged from the 1960s to the 2010s, put together by a panel including Radio 2 presenters Jo Whiley, Sara Cox, OJ Borg, Vernon Kay, Scott Mills, Trevor Nelson, DJ Spoony, and Owain Wyn Evans.

The chairman of the selection panel was Radio 2 and 6 Music’s head of music, Jeff Smith, who is also chair of the Mercury Prize judging panel.

He said: “We have absolutely loved seeing the Radio 2 listeners cast hundreds of thousands of votes for their ultimate British group, and this top 30 chart reflects some of music’s biggest selling, most loved and established British artists who have achieved incredible success globally across the decades.”

The programme will air from 1pm to 3pm on Saturday October 19 as part of a day of National Album Day programming, and can be listened to now on BBC Sounds.

The day will also see Tony Blackburn play exclusively British bands on Sounds Of The 60s from 6am to 8am, while Your Ultimate British Group: The Extras, which will look at the acts who finished between 31 and 54 in the list, is available on BBC Sounds now.

Johnny Marr’s Great British Groups, which will see The Smiths guitarist play some of his favourite British acts, will air on Radio 2 from midnight to 1am every Sunday from October 13 to November 3.

The Great British Groups That Broke America, a series showcasing British groups that found success in the US, will air in full from 1am to 3am on Saturday October 12.

All National Album Day programmes will be available on BBC Sounds.

The top 20 in full as voted for by Radio 2 listeners:

1. The Beatles
2. Queen
3. The Rolling Stones
4. Pink Floyd
5. Fleetwood Mac
6. Led Zeppelin
7. Take That
8. Coldplay
9. Oasis
10. Electric Light Orchestra
11. The Who
12. Depeche Mode
13. The Jam
14. Radiohead
15. The Smiths
16. Genesis
17. Pet Shop Boys
18. The Cure
19. Duran Duran
20. Madness.

Visit the Radio 2 website here or listen to The Beatles on Spotify here.

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