They progressed from raw musicians to sophisticated Oscar winning singer-songwriters and critically-acclaimed book writers.
From initially singing cover versions of rock and roll classics they were confident enough to make producer George Martin take notice of their own formidable writing skills.
Lennon's best-selling books and, most recently, Paul's collection of poetry Blackbird Singing, confirmed their wonderful way with words.
Film was another discipline they took in their own stride and style. They took to it like four ducks to the Mersey.
Each Beatle had charm, charisma and humour by the mop-bucket load.
A Hard's Day's Night and Help! showed the lads in close-up on the big screen and proved a revelation to all those who could never get near them in real life or those who could only hear them above the screaming at concerts.
The Beatles made the first real promotional videos.
Their ahead-of-their-time videos for Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields showed just how far they had evolved as artists in all entertainment genres.
