Abbey Road is a thoroughfare in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

of Camden and the City of Westminster in Greater London running roughly northwest to southeast through

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

near Lord's Cricket Ground. It is part of the road B507. This road is best known for the Abbey Road Studios and for featuring on the cover of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

’ album of the same name, which was released in September 1969.

Location

The north western end of Abbey Road begins in Kilburn at the junction with Quex Road and West End Lane. The road was once a track leading to

Kilburn Priory Kilburn Priory was a small monastic community of nuns established around 1130–1134 three miles north-west of the City of London, where Watling Street (now Kilburn High Road) met the stream now known as the Westbourne, but variously known as ...

and its associated Abbey Farm and was developed in the beginning of the nineteenth century. It continues south east for roughly one mile crossing Belsize Road, Boundary Road, and Marlborough Place, ending at the junction of Grove End Road and Garden Road.

History

The Abbey National Building Society (now

Santander UK Santander UK plc (, ) is a British bank, wholly owned by the Spanish Santander Group. Santander UK plc manages its affairs autonomously, with its own local management team, responsible solely for its performance. Santander UK is one of the l ...

) was founded in 1874 as ''The Abbey Road & St John’s Wood Permanent Benefit Building Society'' in one Baptist Church on Abbey Road.

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

’s Abbey Road Studios is located at the south-western end at 3 Abbey Road, St John’s Wood.

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, Glenn Miller,

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, Radiohead,

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, Shirley Bassey, Aretha Franklin,

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

, Brockhampton, Kylie Minogue, Pink Floyd, and many other famous

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

performers have recorded at this studio. The Beatles named their last studio LP after this street, and the album’s cover photograph shows the four group members walking across the

zebra crossing A zebra crossing (British English) or a marked crosswalk (American English) is a pedestrian crossing marked with white stripes (zebra markings). Normally, pedestrians are afforded precedence over vehicular traffic, although the significance of ...

just outside the studio entrance. As a result of its association with the Beatles, this part of Abbey Road has been featured on the London tourism circuit. The crossing was given the official status of Grade II

Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

in December 2010. The zebra crossing featured on the Beatles cover has become a popular photo opportunity area, despite the road still being a busy thoroughfare for traffic. There have been stories about the zebra crossing having been relocated from its original location, but these are ungrounded myths based on the stormwater drain located on the north eastern corner of the crossing, which has been there since the establishment of the sewer system in the City of Westminster. The Beatles' album cover has been parodied many times over the years. The street sign on the corner of Grove End Road and Abbey Road, which was frequently defaced or stolen, is now mounted high on the building on the corner to save the local council the expense of cleaning and replacing it. The council repaints the wall next to the zebra crossing every three months to cover fans’

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

. Abbey Road is also an electoral

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in the City of Westminster. At the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

census, it had a population of 11,250.

References

External links

Abbey Road London, QuickTime VR

Abbey Road webcam

Satellite View of Crosswalk / Zebra CrossingGoogle Street View of Crosswalk / Zebra crossing#a79f92 Hex Color - Abbey Road - Color Hex Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbey Road (Street) Streets in the City of Westminster Streets in the London Borough of Camden Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster English Heritage sites in London Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster St John's Wood