The King of Rock and Roll teamed up with TV’s reigning variety program, as
Elvis Presley appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” for the first time.
After earning big ratings for “The Steve Allen Show,” the Dorsey Brothers
“Stage Show” and “The Milton Berle Show,” Sullivan finally reneged on his
Presley ban, signing the controversial singing star to an unprecedented
$50,000 contract for three appearances.
With 60 million viewers—or 82.6 percent of TV viewers at the time—tuning in,
the appearance garnered the show’s best ratings in two years and became
the most-watched TV broadcast of the 1950s.