Over 70 million people tuned in, which doesn’t seem impressive compared to the 100 million the Super Bowl regularly pulls in, until you remember the population was much smaller then and not everyone had a TV, let alone a TV in their living room, guest room, etc.
On February 9, 1964, The Beatles made their American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, the show was a hugely popular, legendary variety show which ran in America from 1948 to 1973. If you can imagine American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, and multiply it times 20, that was how popular The Ed Sullivan Show was in the 1960s. Pretty much everyone watched the show.
The Beatles had been seen in clips and recorded interviews before this, but this was their actual performance debut on U.S. television. The show was watched by an all-time record (at the time) of 73,000,000 people. The show remains a landmark in television history and is an indelible memory.
The show is, quite possibly, the single most important moment in the history of rock and roll. no one who witnessed this show will ever forget where he or she was at the time.
On the historic February 9th show, the Beatles sang five songs in total, three at the beginning of the show, and two more to wrap up the show at the end. Other guests appearing on the show that night: a actress/singer named Mitzi Gaynor, Frank Gorshin (a talented impressionist), the comedy team of Charlie Brill & Mitzi McCall, and the troupe of the Broadway musical Oliver. cast was a young British singer named Davy Jones, who in less than three years would become a member of The Monkees.
During the broadcast, each of the four Beatles' names were up on the TV screen to identify them - at this point in time, most Americans couldn't tell one Beatle from another. None of them had achieved any kind of individual identity as yet. While Paul crooned "Til There Was You," the sign under John Lennon read, "Sorry girls, he's married."
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