Watch Rolling Stones Debut In Ed Sullivan Show In Color

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The Rolling Stones first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on October 25, 1964. It was one of the most important gigs for bands who wanted to break into America. At the time, they already had two singles in the Billboard Top 30, and “Time Is On My Side” was at #80 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The Stones kicked off their performance with a take on the Chuck Berry classic, “Around and Around.”

“Ed told us that it was the wildest, most enthusiastic audience he’d seen any artist get in the history of his show,” Mick Jagger recalled. “We got a message from him a few days later, saying, ‘Received hundreds of letters from parents complaining about you, but thousands from teenagers saying how much they enjoyed your performance.'”

However, there was a reporter from a Canadian newspaper who had a different take on The Rolling Stones’ appearance.

“Ed Sullivan wrote to say that he agreed with my description of the Stones as a grubby lot, and to pledge that he won’t have them back,” the journalist wrote. “I am bucked up by Ed’s promise that ‘So help me, the untidy Stones will never again darken our portals.”

Watch their historic performance below.