This day in history: “Beatlemania” hits the US
- - This day in history: “Beatlemania” hits the US
Nourhan SandoukFebruary 7, 2026 at 5:58 AM
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On February 7, 1964, Pan Am Yankee Clipper flight 101 from London Heathrow landed at New York’s Kennedy Airport. On board were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, and this was the official arrival of “Beatlemania” in the United States.
Just six days earlier, their hit song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” had reached the No. 1 spot on the U.S. charts. At the airport around 3,000 screaming fans were waiting to see them, with their famous pudding bowl haircuts and their signature mod suits.
Two days later, on February 9, the band made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. It was a landmark moment in television history. While the screams of the fans in the studio made it hard to hear the music, an estimated 73 million people tuned in to watch from home. This performance was so successful that Sullivan immediately booked them for two more appearances that same month.
On February 11, they played their first public U.S. concert at the Coliseum in Washington, D.C., in front of 20,000 fans. The following day, they performed two back-to-back sets at New York’s Carnegie Hall, where police had to shut down the surrounding streets because of the huge numbers of the Beatles fans. After that on February 22nd, the Beatles headed back to England.
By April 1964, they held the top five positions of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with these singles: Please Please Me, I Want To Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Twist And Shout, Can’t Buy Me Love.
The famous rock band broke up on April 9, 1970 when bass guitarist Paul McCartney left the group. After that each of the four members found success as solo artists. However, their paths eventually took very different turns. John Lennon was tragically murdered by a fan outside his New York home in 1980. Paul McCartney was later recognized for his massive impact on British culture when he was knighted in 1997. George Harrison passed away in November 2001 after a battle with cancer, and Ringo Starr received his own knighthood in 2018 for his lifelong contributions to music.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
