The Beatles had been greeted by the deafening roar of 1000’s of screaming followers once they arrived in the United States for the very first time on this present day in historical past, Feb. 7, 1964.
“When the Beatles arrived in America, it was like seeing a new color for the first time,” a fan mentioned years later.
Pan Am Flight 101, a Boeing 707, touched down with John, Paul, George and Ringo — the Fab 4 nonetheless identified globally by their first names — on the not too long ago renamed John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport in New York City at 1:20 p.m. ET.
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America, reeling within the wake of the assassination of President John Kennedy simply 11 weeks earlier, was immediately intoxicated by Beatlemania.
“The pilot [rang] ahead and said, ‘Tell the boys there’s a big crowd waiting for them,’” Paul McCartney mentioned in “The Beatles Anthology.”
UNITED STATES – FEB. 07: (AUSTRALIA OUT): Photograph of the Beatles — from left to proper, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison — waving at crowds as they arrive at JFK Airport for his or her first U.S. tour. (Photograph by GAB Archive/Redferns)
“We thought, ‘Wow! God, we have really made it.'”
The band would soon dominate global pop music and, in many ways, reshape Western culture for generations to come.
“We thought, ‘Wow! God, we have really made it.'” — Sir Paul McCartney
“Pandemonium broke out among the stamping, banner-waving fans as The Beatles — John, Paul, George and Ringo — stepped from the plane,” The Daily Mirror of London wrote on its front page the following day, under the lead headline that screamed, “Yeah! Yeah! U.S.A.!”
“I think the world has gone mad,” the story acknowledged, quoting a New York Metropolis police officer who was working crowd management on the airport.
The Liverpool lads had change into superstars in Britain solely a 12 months earlier. Their arrival in America introduced Beatlemania to a complete new degree. It will quickly eat pop culture.
NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 7: Followers scream with pleasure on the arrival of The Beatles at John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport, Feb. 7, 1964. (CBS by way of Getty Photos)
The Beatles would show even greater in the USA than they had been in the UK.
“America was the best,” Ringo Starr mentioned in “The Beatles Anthology.” “It was a dream, coming from Liverpool.”
The Lovable Mop Tops appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” from Midtown Manhattan two nights later, a landmark second in American cultural historical past.
“America was the best. It was a dream, coming from Liverpool.” — Ringo Starr
Their efficiency was seen by an estimated 73 million People, almost 40 p.c of your entire inhabitants of the USA on the time.
The Beatles quickly dominated U.S. radio and music charts.
The High 5 Billboard hits for the week of April 4 had been “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Twist and Shout,” “She Loves You, “I Need to Maintain Your Hand” and “Please Please Me” — every music by the Beatles.
American television host Ed Sullivan smiles while standing with the Beatles on the set of his television variety series, New York, Feb. 9, 1964. Left to right, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Sullivan, John Lennon, Paul McCartney. (Express Newspapers/Getty Images)
The feat of one act owning the top five spots on the American charts has never been duplicated — or even approximated.
America’s obsession with the Beatles has never ended, nearly 53 years since they disbanded.
“Abbey Highway,” the classic Beatles album released in 1969, was the 12th best-selling album in America — in 2022, according to Billboard.
The Beatles returned America’s embrace.
John Lennon played his prized 1958 Rickenbacker 325 when the Beatles first played “The Ed Sullivan Show’ on Sunday, Feb. 9, 1964, from CBS’s Studio 50 in New York City. Three of the four band members are shown here (from left): George Harrison, Ringo Starr (drummer) and John Lennon. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
John Lennon moved to New York City in 1971. He was tragically killed outside his Manhattan home in 1980 by a deranged fan — leading to an instant outpouring of grief in New York and across the nation.
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“I play here four to five times a week and you see people silently crying to themselves,” New York City musician Jules Avalon told Fox News Digital in December as he performed at Strawberry Fields, a corner of Central Park devoted to Lennon and the Beatles across the street from his murder site.
“‘Abbey Road,’ the classic Beatles album released in 1969, was 12th best-selling album in America in 2022, according to Billboard.”
George Harrison was living in Los Angeles when he died in 2002.
McCartney and Starr continue to tour the United States.
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPT. 15: Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney attend the World premiere of “The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years” at Odeon Leicester Square on Sept. 15, 2016 in London, England. (Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)
Fans spontaneously serenaded McCartney with “Happy Birthday” last summer when he performed at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on the eve of his 80th.
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It appears a new generation of American children will grow up with an appreciation of the Beatles’ sound and their impact on our national heritage.
John Lennon’s “music made people happy,” Ethan Doyle, 12, of Philadelphia, told Fox News Digital in December outside the Dakota where the musician was murdered, accompanied by his mother, Monique, and brother Brodie, 9.
The doorway to The Dakota in Manhattan, the place John Lennon was murdered in 1980. It is a international pilgrimage website right now. “This place radiates importance,” Ethan Doyle, proper, 12, of Philadelphia, informed Fox Information Digital on Dec. 7, 2022, the eve of the anniversary of Lennon’s loss of life. He is pictured with brother Brodie and mother Monique Doyle. (Kerry J. Byrne/FoxNews Digital)
“This place radiates importance.”
At one level throughout McCartney’s MetLife present final summer time, a pair and their three babies — maybe none older than 8 or 9 — danced gleefully as McCartney carried out “Love Me Do.”
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The younger youngsters responded instinctively to the Beatles’ sound — a lot the best way their grandparents did in 1964.
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