Today marks the 50th anniversary of the day The Beatles set foot on American soil for the first time. On Feb. 7, 1964 John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr boarded Pan Am Flight 101 in London en route to New York’s JFK Airport. It was a moment that defined an era. The Beatles forever changed pop music and culture when they finally came to this side of the world, and their first U.S. television appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” on Feb. 9, 1964 became a record breaking event, with 73 million people tuning in to watch this band from Liverpool perform some of their major hits.
That was 12 million more than had watched Elvis Presley’s first performance on the same show eight years earlier. "Incredible!" Ringo Starr said of their experience in America at the time. "It was 'Ed Sullivan,' it was a big show. We didn't know while we were playing that 70 million people were watching, but it was being in America that was so exciting.” He went on to add, "All the music we loved was in America, it came from America to England."
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of that legendary moment, when The Beatles finally arrived in America, we’ve gathered up 10 quotes from The Beatles and their songs to highlight just how amazing they were, still are and will continue to be through the years.
“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
“Who knows how long I've loved you, you know I love you still. Will I wait a lonely lifetime? If you want me to, I will.”
“It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love, it matters only that you love” -John Lennon
“Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace...”
“There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy: All you need is love.”
“Living is easy with your eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.”
“Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they’re here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday.”
“And when the brokenhearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be.”
“Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise.”
“And any time you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain, don't carry the world upon your shoulders. For well, you know that it's a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder.”
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