The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Beatles made several appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, including three in February 1964 that were among their first appearances in front of an American audience. Their first appearance, on February 9, was seen by over 73 million viewers and came to be regarded as a cultural watershed that launched American Beatlemania—as well as the wider British Invasion of American pop music[1]—and inspired many young viewers to become rock musicians.[2] The band also made another appearance during their 1965 U.S. tour.
Background[edit]
An American composer and champion of music Bernard Herrmann recalled in 1970 that around 1962 he had returned to the U.S. from a conducting job in Liverpool with early Parlophone records of the Beatles that he received from the band. According to him, the Beatles, at the time struggling to get noticed and recorded by major companies, were interested in an appearance on U.S. television programmes such as the Ed Sullivan Show and in making recordings with American record companies, in exchange for a pay of about a thousand dollars. Herrmann claimed to have unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the executives of Universal Records and Columbia Broadcasting System that the Beatles had something novel to offer.[3]
The Beatles' fortunes changed after Ed Sullivan Show talent booker Jack Babb saw the band twice in concert in the UK the following year, after being invited by Peter Prichard, a London talent agent who was also a friend of Beatles manager Brian Epstein.[4] Babb was initially uninterested in booking the group for the show, as British musical acts at that time experienced little commercial success in the U.S.[4] Then, on October 31, Ed Sullivan was at London's Heathrow Airport and saw a crowd of 1,500 fans await the Beatles' return from a tour of Sweden. Struck by the crowds, Sullivan became interested in booking the Beatles for his show, and Prichard notified Epstein.[5]
Epstein flew to New York on November 5 to promote another one of his acts, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas. Six days later, Epstein and Sullivan met at the Hotel Delmonico and agreed to have the Beatles perform three shows—two live and one taped.[5] The Beatles ended up earning $2,400 ($18,025 in 2023 dollars) for each of the three shows.[6]
The Beatles began to receive attention in the mainstream American press and radio play in November and December 1963.[7][8] Due to rapidly growing listener demand, the band's first single on Capitol Records, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was rush-released in late December, three weeks ahead of schedule.[9] (Capitol had hoped that the single's original release date, on January 16, 1964, would allow the Beatles' Sullivan Show appearances in early February to bolster sales. Instead, the song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 25, 1964, just before the Beatles were due to arrive in the U.S.[6])
Appearances[edit]
1964[edit]
The Beatles flew into John F. Kennedy International Airport on February 7 to a waiting crowd of 5,000 fans,[10] and after a press conference arrived at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
Legacy and impact[edit]
Contemporary reception[edit]
The Beatles' Sullivan Show appearances catalyzed a run of extraordinary commercial success in the U.S.; the Beatles sold 2.5 million records in the country in the month after the first appearance and by early April became the first act to hold all top 5 spots in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[6][24]
The majority of American cultural critics responded to the Beatles' performances by expressing bemusement at the unusually strong audience reactions or by mocking the Beatles' haircuts, with only a few focusing on the Beatles' musical performances and talents.[12][13] Reverend Billy Graham, who tuned in to the first show despite his customary avoidance of TV on Sunday, dismissed Beatlemania as a "passing phase".[6]
Historical and cultural legacy[edit]
In retrospect, critics have recognized the Beatles' appearances, particularly the February 9 showing, as a watershed cultural moment for Americans in the 1960s.[25] In 1994, the Museum of Television and Radio reported that the February 9 performance was one of the museum's most-requested TV clips. Ron Simon, the museum's curator for television, remarked that "It was tremendously significant. The whole idea of the cross-cultural phenomenon, the whole idea of Beatlemania, it all came together here."[13] Commentators have also attributed the Beatles' Sullivan Show appearances and early Beatlemania for helping to heal the national trauma from the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963.[6]
Numerous musical artists have cited the Beatles' Ed Sullivan Show appearances as their inspiration for becoming musicians, including Billy Joel, Tom Petty, Gene Simmons, Joe Perry, Nancy Wilson,[2] Kenny Loggins, Mark Mothersbaugh[26] and Bruce Springsteen.[27] Wilson recalled in 2007, "The lightning bolt came out of the heavens and struck [my sister] Ann and me the first time we saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. ... There'd been so much anticipation and hype about the Beatles that it was a huge event, like the lunar landing: that was the moment Ann and I heard the call to become rock musicians."[28]
McCartney has performed at the Ed Sullivan Theater twice since leaving the Beatles—once in 1992 and once in 2009 on the building's exterior marquee.[29][30]