It's one of the biggest milestones in musical history.
On Feb. 9, 1964, a group of relatively unknown musicians, called the Beatles, took the stage for their very first live U.S. television performance--and instantaneously sparked an unprecedented craze with our nation's youth.
Although it's been 50 years since that fateful night on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles are still one of the most influential and iconic bands every to grace our airwaves. More than 74 million people tuned in to watch the group perform five songs during the popular variety hour making it one of the most-watched television events ever.
To honor the seven-time Grammy award-winning group, CBS hosted a special live event Sunday evening entitled, "The Beatles: The Night That Changed America." To bookend the band's success, the television event was broadcast exactly 50 years to the day, date and time of the Beatles original USA debut.
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Many of music's most popular artists came out to celebrate with the Beatles two remaining members Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Artists such as Alicia Keys, John Legend, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Stevie Wonder and many more took the stage to sing some of band's most iconic songs.
Armed with just an acoustic guitar, Ed Sheerran, sang a lovely rendition of "In My Life," while John Mayer and Keith Urban performed a guitar-duel cover of "Don't Let Me Down" and a stool-seated Imagine Dragons, unveiled an unplugged version of "Revolution."
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Katy Perry performed a somber ballad of "Yesterday" and Maroon 5 kicked off the show with a high-energy version of "All My Loving," followed by "Ticket to Ride."
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Upon returning to the Ed Sullivan Theater, McCartney and Starr were reminisced to David Letterman that the theater appeared to be much larger when they played there for the first time 50 years ago. "It's like going back to your old school," McCartney says, adding that the theater does not seem as huge anymore.
The duo, who performed "I Want to Hold Your Hand," on that same stage all those years ago, also reflected upon how difficult it was to hear through all of cries and screams of the teenage girls who filled the theater.
The night also featured many celebrity presenters including LL Cool J, Eric Idle, Anna Kendrick, Jeff Bridges, Sean Penn, Kate Beckinsale, and Johnny Depp.
What was your favorite performance from The Beatles: The Night That Changed America? What's your all-time favorite Beatles hit? Sing your throughts in the comments below!
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