It is believed that when two celestial stars cross each others path and meet at a point in the skies it heralds the birth of a great event on earth.

A similar thing happened when John Lennon met guitarist Paul McCartney at the Woolton Garden Fete held at St Peter’s Church on July 6, 1957. It heralded the birth of Beatles, one of the most famous and influential bands in the history of western pop music.

Fifty years later the music and legacy of the Beatles is still fresh in the minds of music lovers. A whole new generation have also learned to appreciate and get influenced by the music of the most enduring foursome.

Shombit Sengupta, founder of Shining Emotional Surplus (business strategy firm), whose book Jalebi management is due for release in Bangalore on Saturday (July 7), is inspired by the ‘underdog’ theory of the Beatles which catapulted them to fame.

He writes, “John Lennon, James Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) were born into working class obscurity in post war Liverpool, a dingy depressed town where money was scarce.

They took the world by storm and Beatlemania became a worldwide cult. Even the Queen of England honoured them with the MBE in Buckingham Palace in 1965.”

Gerard Machado, a well-known jazz guitarist of Bangalore, says he owes his career as a musician to the Beatles, “I grew up listening to them and also played their songs.

I was very much inspired to take up music after I saw the Beatles movie, A concert for Bangladesh. John Lennon’s Imagine and Yesterday are among my favourite songs.”

Vijay, the lead guitarist of Bridge, a corporate band of CISCO, says, “The Beatles are on the top of the list of any guitarist in the learning stage.

They are like pioneers. I like their song Girl because it is haunting and melodious and composed on a single guitar. I wanted to know more about this song and found out that it was supposed to have featured for an ad.

I also like Hard day’s night and used to play it in college and Day tripper which has a good guitar riff as an intro.”

Arul, the rhythm guitarist for ‘Grubby halo’ — a three-member guitar rock corporate band of Microsoft — says, “I have been greatly influenced by the Beatles as a guitarist — be it my songwriting, harmonies or chords. Love me do is one of my favourite songs because it has a simple tune.”

Ganesh Krishnaswamy, former bass guitarist of the metal band, ‘Kryptos’ and currently a part of the duo called, ‘Parachute Regiment’ says, “Paul McCartney as a bass guitarist has influenced me the most. Ringo as a drummer had a laid-back, take-it-easy approach to drumming which is essential for good coordination between a bass guitarist and a drummer.”