The Beatles have beaten Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and Mickey Mouse to be named the icons of the last hundred years. The band came out top in a survey conducted by US entertainments industry weekly Variety, in which a host of music, movie and TV names were assessed for their icon status. The initial list was drawn up by key industry figures, while readers voted on the final hundred.
The Beatles headed up an actor dominated top ten in the icons survey. While Louis Armstrong came in a two, he was followed by Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Charlie Chaplin, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. Mickey Mouse was a number nine, and Elvis at ten.
Among the criteria used to by Variety to assess each contender's iconic status were "their commercial and creative impact, number of imitators, enduring appeal and whether they appeared on T-shirts". The magazine said that the Beatles were "the sole group who have most shaped the face of modern-day showbusiness".