On This Day: Feb. 9, 1964: The Beatles perform on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’

On This Day, Feb. 9, 1964…

The Beatles made their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was their first time performing in front of an American audience.

The band hit the stage with the songs “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You” and “She Loves You” and later returned to perform “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

The performance was seen by a then-record 73 million viewers, helping Sullivan top the nightly ratings for the first time in seven years.

The show is considered one of the seminal moments in pop culture and launched Beatlemania in America.

In 2014, exactly 50 years later, CBS celebrated the iconic appearance with The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles. The show featured performances by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with other artists who covered Beatles tunes.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.