What American band would you consider equal to the Beatles?

Well, in terms of impact no one really equals The Beatles except for maybe Elvis. The Beach Boys might be similar in terms of the career arc and Pet Sounds and Smile are as ambitious as Revolver/Sgt. Pepper.

My top 5-8 rock bands would probably all be British (with The Beatles being no. 2 behind Radiohead). My favorite American rock band would probably be either Sonic Youth or Ramones, so I guess they would be the closest to The Beatles by virtue of that, but they aren't really comparable stylistically.

None, but maybe the Doors come close

That's kind of a tough comparison to make. I'm not much of a Beatles fan, but they definitely were in a class of their own. If you switch genres, you could make a good argument that the country band Alabama is sort of a parallel, but even then, that's pushing it.

If you're asking by who makes music as good as the Beatles did, it's all relative. You could plug just about any act that you like into the equation and say "They're better than the Beatles."

I picked Alabama because of the fact that they were a foursome and were often considered the Beatles of country music, having sold so many albums in their genre.

If you go by successful acts and record sales in the rock/pop categories, you would have to say that either Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson was the equivalent to the Beatles.

Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Rolling Stones

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The doors.

First album was in 1967 and their last one was 1971 shortly before Jim Morrison died

I'd say the Eagles.

It would absolutely have to be the Beach Boys