According to Huffington Post, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are in talks to appear together on The Late Show With David Letterman. The Late Show is filmed at the Ed Sullivan Theater, named for its former occupant, the late great talk show host, Ed Sullivan. The Beatles‘ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 skyrocketed the band’s popularity in America. Now, CBS is pulling out all the stops to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Ed Sullivan performance.
The network has already announced their tribute special, “The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles,” which will include performances by Maroon 5, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Keith Urban, John Mayer, and a reunion of The Eurythmics. This will air on Sunday, February 9th, exactly fifty years after the Ed Sullivan performance, to the day.
If the McCartney-Starr reunion does happen, the surviving Beatles would perform on Friday, February 7th – the 50th anniversary of the band’s first arrival in America. They played five songs in their introduction to American audiences: “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You,” “She Loves You,” “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
Potentially, Letterman could devote the entire week to the Beatles. It’s almost too tempting to speculate at potential guests, but individuals associated with The Beatles (like Yoko, Lennon’s children, Harrison’s children, etc.) could make appearances. Even big-name artists could be featured, covering Beatles songs on the air.
Starr and McCartney have not performed together since 2009, at a benefit for the David Lynch Foundation. But, this is something different… to see these two musical giants come together on the Ed Sullivan stage, to pay tribute to the history of The Beatles, would be simply magical. Keep your fingers crossed!
-David Melamed (@DMelamz)