The Beatle who made the best solo album—and the one who made the worst—according to data

It’s been more than 50 years since The Beatles broke up, not to mention decades since the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison, but that hasn’t stopped the group from winning awards. At the Feb. 2, 2025 Grammys, The Beatles won their eighth trophy for Best Rock Performance. The long-forgotten song “Now and Then” was completed by surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, with an assist from AI, and its success is just one measure of the band’s enduring appeal.

 

But The Beatles were even more than the sum of their parts. In the wake of the band’s legendary 1960s run came a number of high-profile solo releases from each individual member. That includes Ringo, whose eponymous 1973 album peaked at #2 on the U.S. charts and yielded two #1 singles—with a little help from his friends, of course. Those tracks were just the beginning of Starr’s successful solo ventures—the former Beatles guitarist kicks off a U.S. tour with his All-Starr Band in June 2025, playing fresh material from his brand-new country album, “Look Up,” which came out Jan. 10, 2025.

What’s no less striking than the substantial output of each respective Beatle is the evolution of their signature sounds and styles. From George Harrison’s idiosyncratic slide guitar to John Lennon’s raw candor, certain albums were nearly as groundbreaking as the group efforts that preceded them. Acclaimed releases such as “All Things Must Pass” and “Plastic Ono Band” also helped redefine the personas of their creators.

Then there’s Paul McCartney, or Macca, which is his English nickname, who arguably carried the torch of Beatles-style melodies into each of the subsequent decades. At the same time, he tirelessly explored an assortment of production styles and peripheral genres, including classical and electronic. As a solo artist or with Wings, Macca has released over 20 top 10 singles to date, putting his post-Beatles career in the same ranks as some of music’s bestselling acts. His latest release with Wings, “One Hand Clapping,” came out in June 2024, nearly 50 years after it was recorded. And McCartney’s hits continue to chart today, like his holiday classic “Wonderful Christmastime,” which returned to the Billboard charts in December 2024. More recently, McCartney spent February 2025 selling out surprise shows at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, dazzling the audience with Beatles classics as well as songs from his own solo career.

To see who was truly the most successful member of the Beatles, Stacker collected data on all solo albums from John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr from Best Ever Albums. The site ranks albums according to their appearance and performance on 40,000 editorial and data-based charts like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and Billboard. Stacker ranked the Beatles’ solo albums according to their Best Ever Albums score; live albums and compilation albums were not included.