I Want to Hold Your Hand

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded on 17 October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment. With advance orders exceeding one million copies in the United Kingdom, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" would have gone straight to the top of the British record charts on its day of release (29 November 1963) had it not been blocked by the group's first million-seller "She Loves You", their previous UK single, which was having a resurgence of popularity following intense media coverage of the group. Taking two weeks to dislodge its predecessor, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" stayed at number one for five weeks and remained in the UK top 50 for 21 weeks in total.[2] It was also the group's first American number-one hit, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 18 January 1964 at number 45 and starting the British Invasion of the American music industry. By 1 February it topped the Hot 100, and stayed there for seven weeks before being replaced by "She Loves You". It remained on the Billboard chart for 15 weeks.[3] "I Want to Hold Your Hand" became the Beatles' best-selling single worldwide selling more than 12 million copies.[4] In 2018, Billboard magazine named it the 48th biggest hit of all time on the Billboard Hot 100.[5] In the UK, it was the second highest selling single of the 1960s, behind "She Loves You".[6]