‘It Was 50 Years Ago Today…’

Rolling Stone named it the “Best Album of All Time,” and today, The Beatles‘ legendary Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band turns 50 years old! Do NOT adjust your radio. Westwood One, in partnership with Universal, proudly celebrates today’s golden anniversary of this groundbreaking album with a two-hour music special airing on stations nationwide — The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is hosted by WLS-FM/Chicago personality Jeff Davis and also features Giles Martin, who mixed the special 50th anniversary version of the album. Westwood One’s two-hour event includes the album in its entirety and insider moments from Giles Martin, son of the original album’s producer, Sir George Martin, as well as exclusive archive audio from the Fab Four themselves — John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Released in the U.S. on June 2, 1967, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was the Beatles’ 8th studio album and spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. charts. It was a critical and commercial success, winning four Grammy Awards in 1968, including Album of the Year — the first rock album to receive that honor.

Sgt. Pepper featured such classic songs as “With a Little Help from My Friends,” “Getting Better,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “When I’m Sixty-Four” and “A Day in the Life.” It is considered by many as one of the most important albums in music history. As Giles Martin says, “For something to live on like that is extraordinary.”