I Want to Hold Your Hand is a 1963 song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney (Lennon-McCartney). It was recorded on 17 October 1963 at EMI Studios in London and released in the UK on 29 November 1963 with This Boy as the B-side, and in the US on 26 December 1963 with I Saw Her Standing There as the B-side. The track, a rock and roll and pop number, was the Beatles’ first four-track recording and later appeared on the US album Meet the Beatles!. It sparked a worldwide sensation, with advance orders over a million in the UK, became the group’s first American number one, and helped launch the British Invasion of the US charts. The song has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and has earned multiple honors, including induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame (1998) and high placements on Rolling Stone and Billboard all-time lists.
