The impact of the Beatles - not only on rock & roll but on all of Western culture - is simply incalculable .. [A]s personalities, they defined and incarnated '60s style: smart, idealistic, playful, irreverent, eclectic.
On 9 February 1964, the Beatles gave their first live US television performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, watched by approximately 73 million viewers in over 23 million households, or 34 per cent of the American population.