Beatles Voted ‘Icons Of Century’

The Beatles have fought off stiff competition to be named ‘icons of the century’ by US magazine Variety.

It named the Scousers: “the sole band who has most shaped the face of modern-day showbusiness.”

The mag ranked 100 iconic entertainment figures form the last century, with industry figures drawing up a shortlist for readers to vote on. The top ten looked like this:

1. The Beatles
2. Louis Armstrong
3. Lucille Ball
4. Humphrey Bogart
5. Marlon Brando
6. Charlie Chaplin
7. James Dean
8. Marilyn Monroe
9. Mickey Mouse
10. Elvis Presley

Among the criteria for choosing "icons" were their commercial and creative impact, number of imitators, enduring appeal and whether they appeared on T-shirts.

The list aimed to represent every side of showbusiness, including actors, directors, screenwriters, musicians, TV presenters, animals, comedians and even cartoon characters.

 Among other names on the list were US TV host Johnny Carson, singer Johnny Cash and canine star Lassie.

Variety conducted the poll to mark its 100th anniversary, but did not reveal to the BBC how many votes were cast.