Here's why Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is worth celebrating 50 years later

An homage to Sgt. Pepper and the Beatles in London
(Image credit: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)

It was 50 years ago today (almost) when Sgt. Pepper taught the world to play a different kind of record. On July 2, 1967, The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the United States, a week after its release in Britain, and people credibly argue that popular music, and recorded music, was never quite the same. Here's the short version:

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.