Biggest British Invasion Bands

The biggest bands that helped make the British invasion of mid-sixties the musical event of the decade.


1. The Beatles: The biggest music act of all time and the first major pop artist to come out of England. The Beatles were responsible for not only changing the musical landscape but pop culture and therefore world culture.



2. The Rolling Stones: Easily the second most successful band to emerge from England during the sixties. After the Beatles broke up in 1970 the Stones continued, earning themselves the nick name "The World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band".

3. The Who: Famous for playing their music loud and smashing their instruments, the Who peaked creatively and commercially with the albums Tommy (1969) and The Who's Next (1971).

4. The Moody Blue: This band became big combining classical music and rock especially on the album Days Of Future Past (1967).

5. The Animals: Second group, after the Beatles, to have a number one single in the U.S. (The House Of The Rising Sun).

6. The Kinks: With songs like You Really Got Me and All Day And All Of The Night, the Kinks were the forefathers of both punk and metal music.

7. The Yardbirds: This group spawned such guitarists as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, giving birth to future mega groups Cream, Derek And The Dominos, Jeff Beck Group and Led Zepplin.

8. The Hollies: The Hollies had hits all through the sixties and into the seventies. One time member Graham Nash quit in the l968 to form the super group Crosby, Stills And Nash (Later Young).

9. The Spencer Davis Group: The Spencer Davis Group had big hits with I'm A Man and Gimme Some Lovin'. Future superstar Steve Winwood was the band's keyboardist, lead singer and main songwriter.

10. Manfred Mann: This group's biggest hit during the sixties was Do Wah Diddy Diddy (Bill Murray sings this song in the movie Stripes). More than a decade later, as Manfred Mann's Earth Band, they had a number one hit with Bruce Springsteen's Blinded By The Light.