1965 Rock Classic Became a No. 1 Hit 66 Years Ago Today

The Beatles' 1965 tune "Ticket to Ride," off their album Help!, has been a long-time favorite among fans of the iconic British band. According to This Day In Music, the three-minute tune topped the Billboard Hot 100 on May 22, 1966.

According to the website Beatles Music History, Paul McCartney discussed collaborating with his bandmate John Lennon to write "Ticket to Ride" in his biography Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now by Barry Miles, published in 1997.

"We wrote the melody together; you can hear on the record, John's taking the melody and I‘m singing harmony with it. We'd often work those out as we wrote 'em. Because John sang it, you might have to give him 60 percent of it. It was pretty much a work job that turned out quite well," said the musician to Miles for the book.

In addition, McCartney addressed that Lennon, who died in 1980 at the age of 40, suggested the Wings frontman didn't contribute much to the song.

"John just didn't take the time to explain that we sat down together and worked on that song for a full three-hour songwriting session, and at the end of it all we had all the words, we had the harmonies, and we had all the little bits," continued McCartney during his interview with Miles.

As Beatles fans are well aware, McCartney, now 83, and Lennon were co-songwriters during their time as bandmates, alongside Ringo Starr and George Harrison. In a 2018 interview with GQ, wherein he shared behind-the-scenes facts about his most beloved hits, McCartney discussed his experience co-writing songs with Lennon.

"I think it's about 300 songs that John and I wrote together. We never had a dry session. We'd always come in, and we never went away from the session going, 'Couldn't get it today.' We always finish a song, which is pretty remarkable," said McCartney during his GQ interview.

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 1:17 PM.