This past Sunday, Feb. 9, marked the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ landmark performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Not only did it mark the beginning of Beatlemania, it was also the start of their super successful and lucrative career.
The event was celebrated in the Grammy special The Night that Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles presented on CBS.
The event was filled with star studded performances from most of the previous acts from this year’s Grammy ceremony. Artists such as, Maroon 5, newcomers Imagine Dragons, Alicia Keys, John Legend, John Mayer, and Katy Perry took the stage to cover some of the band’s most notable songs, like “Ticket to Ride,” “Revolution,” and “Let It Be.”
The most exciting part of the night was a heartfelt speech and performance of “Hey Bulldog” from Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.
The act that stole the show was the newly reunited Eurythmics performing together only for one night to do their rendition of “The Fool on the Hill.”
The night came to an end as Ringo and Paul took the stage, both separately and together, for “Yellow Submarine,” “Hey Jude,” and “Sgt. Pepper,” while Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and their wives proudly looked on.
The celebrities in the crowd watched in awe, as if they were seeing the Beatles for the first time. If anything, it showed just how far four lads from Liverpool have come to change the face of music history.