A 1963 Beatles single that became the band's first U.S. number one and triggered the wave known as the British Invasion.
Composition
I Want to Hold Your Hand was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in a basement studio at Jane Asher’s home in October 1963. The song was recorded the same month at EMI Studios using four-track equipment.
Reception
Released in the UK in November 1963, the single sold over a million copies in less than a month. In the United States, where Capitol Records had previously declined to release the band’s singles, it became the Beatles’ first number-one record.
Legacy
The song’s U.S. success in January 1964 prompted the band’s televised arrival in New York and their February appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” which is widely cited as the start of Beatlemania in the United States.
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I Want to Hold Your Hand starts with I and ends with D. Browse other songs along the same letter.
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