Beatles Win The 2008 World Music Awards' Diamond Award

Ringo Starr, the very talented drummer from the Beatles, accepted the World Music Awards' 2008 Diamond Award yesterday evening in Monaco. The Diamond Award was awarded to Ringo's band, the Beatles, for having sold more records that any other recording act in history. Ringo accepted the award on behalf of the other Beatles band members - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. Ringo went on to say that for the Beatles, everything had been made possible for them through the help of many others, and he was standing on the stage for that reason.

The Beatles, according to EMI, have sold more than one billion records since they formed as a group in 1960. For that alone, the World Music Awards chose them this year to receive the Diamond Award, but there was also a special recognition for the musical barriers that the Beatles broke both with instrumental arrangements, new recording technology, and the search for the meaning of sound. With the help of George Martin, the Beatles brought instruments, arrangements, style, and studio recording sessions together with words and dreams, and the sheer magnitude of this effort is as no other band has yet been able to master.

The overall appreciation for the musical work performed by John, Paul, George, and Ringo in the assembled energy of the Beatles was that 40 of their released albums, singles, and EP's hit the #1 position on the UK charts for record sales. In the United Kingdom, the Beatles had a total of 15 albums that went to number one, and they created a legacy in music that inspired other artists to move forward in their own careers and musical ambitions.

The Beatles' music still spans the generations, with memories of people playing the Beatles' phonograph singles at home and everyone coming together to hear the sound, and then this happening again with the anthology CD's. Singles like "I Want To Hold Your Hand", and "She Loves You" brought a new sound to the radio and also to television. For the Beatles, the international success they received, gave them an ability to chart new musical avenues, and create new compilations with musical instruments and sound recording, and for them there was a science to all this music, with ongoing barriers to be broken.