Sixty years ago, on February 16th, 1964, The Beatles made history with their second appearance on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’ The Fab Four, who had taken America by storm with their first performance a week earlier, left New York City and headed to sunny Miami, where they performed at the Deauville Hotel.
The Beatles played to a packed audience of over 3,500 screaming fans, who had paid $2.50 each for a ticket. The show was also broadcast live to an estimated 70 million viewers across the country, breaking the record for the largest TV audience at the time. The band performed five songs, four of which they had already played on their first appearance. They opened with "She Loves You," followed by "This Boy," "All My Loving," "I Saw Her Standing There," and "From Me to You." They closed with their smash hit "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which had topped the Billboard charts for seven weeks.
The Beatles' performance was met with rave reviews from critics and fans alike, who praised their charisma, energy, and musical talent. The Miami Herald called them "the greatest thing since Elvis Presley," while The New York Times described them as "a marvel to behold." The Beatles' second Ed Sullivan Show appearance cemented their status as the biggest pop sensation of the 1960s and marked a turning point in American music and culture. As John Lennon later said, "That was the night we made it, really."
[Source: Classic Hits Today]