The Beatles Officially More Popular Than Jesus

09/23/09 5:00pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

John Lennon provoked Beatles album-burnings and widespread condemnation from Christians for saying his band were "more popular than Jesus now" in 1966. He later apologized, but perhaps he shouldn't have.

A Google search engine analysis shows that over the last month, more people have typed the word "Beatles" into the search engine than "Jesus," according to Britain's Telegraph newspaper.

The Beatles have seen a rise in search queries in September due to the recently released The Beatles: Rock Band video game and the new Beatles reissues. As for that upcoming JC reissue Christians keep talking about... well... it hasn't happened yet, and perhaps people are getting disillusioned with the man some Christians refer to as the "son of God," since the last show the dude did was over 2,000 years ago.

Lennon made his infamous comment in an interview with the Evening Standard in 1966. It largely passed unnoticed until a Beatles fan magazine reprinted the quote on its front cover six months later.

Thereafter, Christians in the southern United States protested the comment by burning Beatles records and other items, and radio stations banned the Fab Four and venues cancelled their performances.

The Vatican forgave Lennon for his comment last year, but perhaps they'd like to apologize to him now instead?