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“In the more than twenty years since the group disbanded, they each recorded prolifically and each had his share of hits.  Some of their songs — most notably Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ — have taken on lives of their own.  But when the Beatles gave up their collective persona, they also gave up their pervasive influence.”

Allan Kozinn, in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll (New York, 1992), page 237.