Na noite de
9 de fevereiro de
1964, o
The Ed Sullivan Show chegou ao auge da popularidade, com a apresentação do grupo britânico
The Beatles, com uma audiência estimada em 70 milhões de norte-americanos. Até à chegada do homem à Lua, em
20 de julho de
1969, esta fora até então a maior audiência da televisão americana.
In late 1963, Sullivan and his entourage happened also to be passing through
Heathrow and witnessed how
The Beatles' fans greeted the group on their return from Stockholm, where they had performed a television show as warmup band to local star
Lill Babs. Sullivan was intrigued, telling his entourage it was the same thing as Elvis all over again. He initially offered Beatles manager
Brian Epstein top dollar for a single show but the Beatles manager had a better idea—he wanted exposure for his clients: the Beatles would instead appear three times on the show, at bottom dollar, but receive top billing and two spots (opening and closing) on each show.
The Beatles appeared on three consecutive Sundays in February 1964 to great anticipation and fanfare as "
I Want to Hold Your Hand" had swiftly risen to No. 1 in the charts. Their first appearance on February 9 is considered a milestone in American pop culture and the beginning of the
British Invasion in music. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for US television. The Beatles followed Ed's show opening intro, performing "
All My Loving"; "
Till There Was You", which featured the names of the group members superimposed on closeup shots, including the famous "Sorry girls, he's married" caption on
John Lennon; and "
She Loves You". The act that followed Beatles in the broadcast was pre-recorded, rather than having someone perform live on stage amidst the pandemonium that occurred in the studio after the Beatles performed their first songs. The group returned later in the program to perform "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
The following week's show was broadcast from
Miami Beach where
Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) was in training for his first title bout with
Sonny Liston. The occasion was used by both camps for publicity. On the evening of the television show (February 16) a crush of people nearly prevented the band from making it onstage. A wedge of policemen were needed and the band began playing "
She Loves You" only seconds after reaching their instruments. They continued with "
This Boy", and "
All My Loving" and returned later to close the show with "I Saw Her Standing There", "
From Me to You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
They were shown on tape February 23 (this appearance had been taped earlier in the day on February 9 before their first live appearance). They followed Ed's intro with "
Twist and Shout" and "
Please Please Me" and closed the show once again with "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
The Beatles appeared live for the final time on August 14, 1965. The show was broadcast September 12, 1965 and earned Sullivan a 60 percent share of the nighttime audience for
one of the appearances. This time they followed three acts before coming out to perform "
I Feel Fine", "
I'm Down", and "
Act Naturally" and then closed the show with "
Ticket to Ride", "
Yesterday", and "
Help!." Although this was their final live appearance on the show, the group would for several years provide filmed
promotional clips of songs to air exclusively on Sullivan's program such as the 1966 and 1967 clips of "
Paperback Writer", "
Rain", "
Penny Lane", and "
Strawberry Fields Forever".
