"Penny Lane" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, recorded during the Sgt. Pepper sessions, and released in February 1967 (see 1967 in music) as one side of a double A-sided single, along with John Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever". Beatles producer George Martin has stated he believes the pairing of these songs resulted in probably the greatest single ever released by the group. Both songs were later released on the US Magical Mystery Tour album in November 1967. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week before being knocked off by The Turtles song "Happy Together". The song features contrasting verse-chorus form and was credited "Lennon-McCartney", although McCartney was the main contributor to the song (Lennon reportedly helped with one of the verses). The song's title is derived from the name of a street in the band's hometown, Liverpool. The area that surrounds its junction with Smithdown Road is also commonly called Penny Lane. Locally the term "Penny Lane" was the name given to Allerton Road and Smithdown Road and its busy shopping area. Penny Lane is named after James Penny, an 18th century slave trader.

McCartney and Lennon grew up in the area and they would meet at Penny Lane junction to catch a bus into the centre of the city. The street is an important landmark, sought out by most Beatles fans touring Liverpool. In the past, street signs saying "Penny Lane" were constant targets of tourist theft and had to be continually replaced. Eventually, city officials gave up and simply began painting the street name on the sides of buildings. This practice has now stopped (2007) and more thief resistant "Penny Lane" street signs have been installed, however they are still stolen on a regular basis. The Abbey Road sign is also frequently stolen for the same reason; see Street sign theft for more information.

Following the success of the double A-side "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby", Brian Epstein inquired if they had any new material available. Both songs, though recorded during the sessions for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, were left off the album — a decision George Martin regretted , although the Beatles usually did not include songs released as singles on their British albums. This was also the first single by the Beatles to be sold with a picture sleeve in the UK, a practice rarely used there at that time. However, packaging singles in individually designed sleeves was standard in the US and various other countries (such as Japan).

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #449 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.