A Beatles Vs. Beach Boys Debate Is Taking Over Twitter, So Questlove And Justin Vernon Have Weighed In

While The Beatles are widely considered to be the best and/or most important band of the ’60s, there are plenty of folks out there who would instead pledge their allegiance to The Beach Boys. Well, it was argued on Twitter that the former is a better group than the latter, which has prompted both bands to trend due to the discussion surrounding that claim.

Last night, journalist Emily Brooks tweeted, “My husband is out with a hot take: The Beach Boys are better than The Beatles. Immediately upon hearing this I was shook. He told me, ‘Put it out in the Twitterverse, I bet I get love.’”

That got a reply from beloved The Roots drummer Questlove, who wrote, “Welp: if it weren’t for Pet Sounds we woulda never had Sgt Peppers [shrugging emoji].” Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon responded to that tweet with an emoji of a hand pointing to the left, indicating support for Questlove’s view.

Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson has addressed that Pet Sounds/Sgt. Pepper’s point before. In a recent interview, for example, he was asked what his favorite album is, and he said, “I’d have to say Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Obviously, I love The Beatles and we have always had a mutual love and respect for each other. They say that it was birthed from hearing Pet Sounds… I don’t know… but I just love that album.”

Meanwhile, while it would be fair for Paul McCartney to choose The Beatles in this debate, he has nothing but love for the Beach Boys. In fact, in a 2007 interview, McCartney said of a Pet Sounds highlight, “‘God Only Knows’ is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian. I’ve actually performed it with him and I’m afraid to say that during the sound check, I broke down. It was just too much to stand there singing this song that does my head in, and to stand there singing it with Brian.”

On a related note, in an interview with Uproxx earlier this month, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia‘s Glenn Howerton said, “I don’t like the f*cking Beatles, man. […] I got a bit of a chip on my shoulder about The Beatles because I feel like they made a lot of really cool music, and they were obviously incredibly innovative and all that. But I think there were a lot of bands that were around that same time that just don’t get enough play. And I’m just f*cking sick of hearing about The Beatles. Like, Jesus Christ, just shut the f*ck up.”

Check out some more Beatles vs. Beach Boys tweets below.