60 years ago, the Beatles made their Ed Sullivan Show debut. Music was never the same again.
Sure, late night hosts still host musical guests, but the Beatles revolutionized what these performances can mean. A five-song set was all that was needed to change the course of music history.
From the simplistic stage design and suits worn by the Beatles to Ringo Starr's elevated drum set, their Ed Sullivan Show performances are right up their with Shea Stadium in terms of their icon status.
Here's what makes this Beatles performance so special.
Beatlemania takes on Ed Sullivan Show
On February 9, 1964, the Beatles took the Ed Sullivan Show stage. They played a two-part set of five songs. After opening with “All My Loving,” they played a cover of Meredith Willson's “Till There Was You.” They closed the first set with “She Loves You.”
The second set consisted of two of their biggest early hits, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
73 million people watched this performance. That was a huge boost in ratings for the Ed Sullivan Show. From average joes to Billy Joel, it inspired many. In just five songs, the Beatles captured the hearts of millions.
Inspiration
The Ed Sullivan Show performance the Beatles put on inspired many. From Billy Joel to Bruce Springsteen, plenty of iconic artists were inspired by this moment.
“They were a quartet and we said, wow, we can do that. If these guys from England can come out and play rock ‘n' roll, we can do it,” Joel said. Springsteen compared it to an “alien invasion” in the same piece.
While Elvis Presley himself had played the talk show, what the Fab Four was different. Viewers were watching a British boy band take the stage with their silly love songs. Songs like “She Loves You” are infectious from the very start.
Even more recent artists to this day take inspiration from this performance. Boygenius recently dressed up as the band during a Saturday Night Live performance. They donned black suits and used a Beatles-esque drum kit. Phoebe Bridgers even used a black Rickenbacker like John Lennon. It was also strange to see the Saturday Night Live stage transformed to look similar to that of the Ed Sullivan Show.
Not the last performance
This wouldn't be the last time the Beatles would appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. They would return in subsequent years with performances of “Ticket to Ride,” “Yesterday,” and more.
Paul McCartney has also returned to the venue several times. He returned in 1992 and 2009, playing on the outside marquee during the latter performance.
The Beatles
The Beatles new exposure helped further propel them into the limelight. In the subsequent years after their inaugural Ed Sullivan Show appearance, the band would release albums like A Hard Day's Night, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, and Let It Be.
Even sixty years later, what the Beatles did on the Ed Sullivan is remarkable. Bands will continue to take inspiration from the performance However, it's unlikely anyone will ever be able to top this. That's why it's often imitated but never duplicated.
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