Today, February 9th, marks 60 years since the Beatles first performed on North American television. The year was 1964 and the British band performed in front of more than 70 million viewers, who tuned in and didn't miss a minute of “The Ed Sullivan Show”.
The group formed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr was already a success in Europe with the release of their first album “Please Please Me” in 1963 and the show on American TV only confirmed that Beatlemania would cross borders.
The Liverpool quartet arrived in New York for the first time two days before the performance and were welcomed by around three thousand fans. After a press conference, the artists did some rehearsals, but guitarist George Harrison was left out to treat tonsillitis and his producer Neil Aspinall replaced him on stage.
Faced with fans' screams, on February 9, the Beatles took the stage and opened the night of performances with the iconic “All My Loving”. In total, the group performed five songs on the CBS Sunday night variety show, which at the time was one of the most-watched shows in the country.
Check out images from the Beatles' first broadcast on North American TV:
During the broadcast, the phrase was displayed on the image of John Lennon: “Sorry, girls, he’s married.”
According to records from “The Ed Sullivan Show” there were more than 50,000 ticket requests, but the studio only held 700 guests. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that at the time of the presentation, 60% of televisions were tuned to the program.
According to information from People, after their tremendous success, the Beatles appeared again on Sullivan's show for the second time on February 16th and for the third and final time on February 23rd.
*With information from Agência Brasil
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
