Abbey Road

Abbey Road, released 26 September 1969 is the 11th album released by the Beatles. It is the last album that all the Beatles participated on before their final album Let It Be. The album is mostly known for the George Harrison megahit Something and the Timothy Leary inspired song Come Together by John Lennon that is probably better known by most as a cover from Aerosmith.
Musically it is well received but it is best known for starting the pre-internet meme of people visiting England and recreating the iconic album cover to send home to friends and family as a postcard when the pictures were developed. More recently it is known for all the butthurt One Direction started with Beatles fans when they copied the classic album cover in 2010 and claimed that they were "More Popular Than The Beatles".
Get it. In a March 1966 interview with The London Evening Standard John Lennon claimed "The Beatles Were More Popular Than Jesus" so by saying One Direction is more popular than the Beatles you are saying they are ultimately more popular than Jesus. Such clever word play.

	“	Christianity will go, It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I know I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first – rock & roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.	„
	—John Lennon. The world's first troll.

Abbey Road: The Meme

Abbey Road Meme Gallery About missing Pics

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  The Simpsons. Probably The Best Of The Tributes
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  L.A. Rams
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  Streets Of Rage
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  U2 From 2006
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  The British actively advertise Abbey Road as a photo-stop for tourists
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  Take one step and then again. Let's do the Mario, all together now!
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  Someone's Waifus on Abbey Road
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  Things are always better with Zombies
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  Sesame Street
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  Lego gets in on the meme
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Eddie Adams' "Saigon Execution"

You don't need to know the Beatles to know the Meme because the Abbey Road album cover instantly became a meme in 1969 when the Album was first released because of the simplicity and candidness of the image. Anyone could have taken it. It's another one of those images like Eddie Adams' award winning photograph Saigon Execution that has been burnt into our collective psyche.
Doing an Abbey Road style picture has become a way for people to say that they've made it. That they are officialy a part of the shared experience like the Simpsons, South Park, Bands like U2 and even jokes, such as, having Batman, Nightwing, Robin and Batgirl crossing the famous Zebra striped Road.
Unfortunately, like everything that starts off as a clever tribute or homage, it has it's copy cats and has become an unfunny, Forced Meme getting done and done again by every 14-year-old-boy who saw the Kiss version of this meme on a shirt at Hot Topic.
Since 9AM Last Thursday, the Abbey Road Meme was declared officially dead because it is only now being done by newfag ritalin kids that believe the road to funny is to keep repeating something that was slightly cool when it started back with their grandparents and a 35mm camera.