The Beattles

Beatlemania

The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show

In November 1963, The Beatles appeared on the Royal Variety Performance and were photographed with Marlene Dietrich who also appeared on the show. In early November 1963, Brian Epstein persuaded Ed Sullivan to commit to presenting The Beatles on three editions of his show in February, and parlayed this guaranteed exposure into a record deal with Capitol Records. Capitol committed to a mid-January release for "I Want to Hold Your Hand", but a series of unplanned circumstances triggered premature airplay of an imported copy of the single on a Washington DC radio station in mid-December. Capitol brought forward release of the record to 26 December 1963.

Several New York radio stations — first WMCA, then WINS and WABC — began playing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on its release day, and the Beatlemania that had started in Washington was duplicated in New York and quickly spread to other markets. The record sold one million copies in just ten days, and by 16 January, Cashbox Magazine had certified The Beatles record number one (in the edition published with the cover-date 23 January).

This contributed to the hysterical fan reaction at JFK Airport on 7 February 1964. A record-breaking seventy-three million viewers — approximately 40% of the U.S. population at the time — tuned in to the first Sullivan appearance on 9 February. During the week of 4 April, The Beatles held the top five places on the Billboard Hot 100 (see The Beatles record sales, worldwide charts) — a feat that has never been repeated.