The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show"
Artist
Eddie Adams
(American, 1933–2004)
Artist
CBS Studios
(American)
DateFebruary 9, 1964
Mediumgelatin silver print
Dimensionssight: 34.1 x 26.5 cm (13 7/16 x 10 7/16 in.)
frame: 54.3 x 46 cm (21 3/8 x 18 1/8 in.)
frame: 54.3 x 46 cm (21 3/8 x 18 1/8 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineGift of Howard G. Davis, III A.K.A. David Davis
Object number2011.187
Label TextIn 1963 the entertainment writer and television variety host Ed Sullivan—whose show ran from 1948–71—witnessed a delirious crowd of Beatles fans at London’s Heathrow airport. He invited the band to appear on his show, and their manager, Brian Epstein, shrewdly negotiated three performances over successive weeks. This studio photograph documents the first, on February 9, 1964 in New York. A record seventy-three million viewers saw the programs. The experience transformed American pop music and bonded young viewers in an almost tribal association.On View
Not on view
Eddie Adams
February 1, 1968
