The unlikely collaboration that put a halt on the British invasion
At the time of writing, the 2025 edition of Glastonbury Festival has just wrapped up. It brought with it headline sets from the likes of Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo, and The 1975. Also performing were a number of bands and artists that are considered “cool” at the moment, such as Charli XCX, Doechii, and Lorde.
While Glastonbury is generally considered a fun festival, it is also the centre of a number of musical conversations, and plenty have been sparked following its 2025 offering.
Outside of the controversies surrounding the comments made by Bob Vylan and Kneecap, which deserve (and have) their own article, we also talk about the musical impact certain artists might have. For instance, following Charli XCX’s LIDO festival and her headline set at Glastonbury, people have started asking where BRAT will find itself within the musical canon. Is this just a fad that will pass like the rest of them, or will we see this album and XCX’s subsequent shows as a major moment in musical history?
Unfortunately, there is no way to tell this other than to wait. We cannot comment on where these people are going to rank amongst our iconic musicians because not enough time has passed for us to tell. We need years, if not decades, to know that something was a significant moment in musical history. For instance, the British invasion was considered a big deal at the time, but it’s only in the decades that have passed that we can recognise just how much of a big deal it actually was.
The moment the British invasion fell
Sure, The Beatles were massive at the time, but who was to say how long their legacy would last? There had been plenty of British one-hit wonders before them, who was to say that this wouldn’t just be the same thing? Well, as time has told us, the legacy of not only the Beatles but each individual member remains, as that moment in time is now singled out as one of the most important in pop and rock history.
As previously mentioned, plenty of acts had hits in the US, so what made what The Beatles did so different? Well, it all comes down to having a lasting impact. The Beatles had hits, sure, but they also set the blueprint for how British bands could market themselves in the States. They also made Americans want to be in bands rather than solo artists, setting off a brand new trend around the country.
Their impact was so significant that even when the British invasion came to a conclusion, the demand for the Beatles was still huge. They outlived their trend in the most legendary way, and continued to be considered one of the most important bands in the world.
So, what was the song that eventually brought the British invasion to an end? Well, it was actually an unlikely collaboration, as two great American acts came together in a bid to topple the Brits from the top of the charts and start the next big trend. The acts? The Byrds and Bob Dylan. The trend? Folk rock.
‘Mr Tambourine Man’ is renowned as a Bob Dylan classic, and while he certainly wrote it, he wasn’t the first artist to release the song; that was an honour reserved for The Byrds. This was a song that launched The Byrds into the stratosphere of rock music, introduced the power of folk rock, convinced Bob Dylan to go electric and, most notably, ended the British invasion.
David Crosby of The Byrds recalled the moment that Dylan saw them playing the song and how it changed his worldview. “He came to hear us in the studio when we were building The Byrds,” he said, “After the word got out that we gonna do ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ and we were probably gonna be good, he came there and he heard us playing his song electric, and you could see the gears grinding in his head. It was plain as day. It was like watching a slow-motion lightning bolt.”
The song’s impact was second to none, and it marked the end of one of the biggest musical movements of all time. Steve Van Zandt recalls the moment it was released and the monumental impact that it had. “The floodgates opened until the summer of ’65,” he recalled, “When the Americans took the charts back with the folk rock of The Byrds and Bob Dylan.”
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