The Beatles: All US Number Ones Ranked Worst To Best
9. All You Need Is Love
14th Number One, 1967 - Written by John Lennon
In the summer of '67 (known as the Summer of Love), the first live, international TV program was broadcast, reaching an audience of at least 400 million around the globe. The production, Our World, featured segments dedicated to each of the participating countries, which were represented by names as big as Pablo Picasso and Maria Callas. The closing segment transported everyone to the UK, where The Beatles were set to perform an all-new song, written specifically for the show. To connect with the broadest audience possible, John Lennon wrote a simplistic, positive tune around a rather generic mantra. That mantra was repeated endlessly throughout the song, and so deeply burrowed into the collective consciousness that people are born nowadays knowing the words to All You Need Is Love.
The song has gotten a bad rap over the years for being schmaltzy and naïve, and also because John came to be known for not practising what he preached. Nevertheless, All You Need Is Love did what it set out to do, it has stood the test of time, and it's the epitome of feel-good music.
Fun Fact: For the televised performance, The Beatles brought in some of their friends to add to the positive energy and sing along with them. Those friends included Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, and Marianne Faithfull, among others.