Ed Sullivan was born 125 years ago Monday, on September 28, 1901, in Harlem, and he is having the best year any 125-year-old has ever had. In April, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that Sullivan will receive its Ahmet Ertegun Award as a member of the Class of 2026, alongside inductees including Oasis, Phil Collins and Iron Maiden. According to CBS New York, the induction ceremony takes place in November at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, and 75 artists who once stood on Sullivan’s stage are already in the Hall.
The show began as ‘Toast of the Town’ on CBS in 1948 and was renamed ‘The Ed Sullivan Show‘ in 1955. Over 23 years and roughly 1,000 episodes, according to CBS New York, it became the place where America met the people it would love for the rest of its life. Elvis Presley appeared in 1956, after Sullivan had at first refused to book him. On February 9, 1964, the Beatles played the theater on West 53rd Street to what was then the largest television audience in history. The Rolling Stones, the Doors and the Jackson 5 followed, and Sullivan booked Black performers on a national stage when much of the country was still segregated.
Ed Sullivan is finally getting Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognition
“He caught the spark of Elvis in the 1950s, the fire of the British Invasion in the ’60s, soul and psychedelic music,” Josh Solt, chief executive of SOFA Entertainment, which owns the show’s library, told CBS New York. Sullivan died on October 13, 1974, at 73, three years after CBS canceled the show. The theater on Broadway still bears his name, and according to CBS New York, his official YouTube channel is approaching one billion views. The stiff, awkward man who could not sing, dance or tell a joke turned out to have the best ears in show business. On his 125th birthday, the Hall of Fame finally says so out loud.