The King of Rock and Roll teamed up with TV’s reigning variety
program, as Elvis Presley appears on “The Ed Sullivan Show”
for the first time on September 9, 1956.

After Presley earned 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.