Jon Batiste Celebrates Beatles Anniversary With Gorgeous ‘Blackbird’
By Scott Bernstein Feb 10, 2016 • 1:21 pm PST

Yesterday marked the 52nd anniversary of The Beatles’ U.S. television debut as the Fab Four performed at NYC’s Ed Sullivan Theater for The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. The Beatles’ performance was watched by more than 73 million viewers which was 34% of the nation’s population. The Late Show With Steven Colbert is the current occupant of the Ed Sullivan Theater and last night’s episode of the CBS show featured a beautiful tribute to The Beatles.
Colbert tapped the leader of his house band, Jon Batiste, to perform “Blackbird.” Batiste served up a gorgeous rendition of the White Album tune which Paul McCartney wrote about the state of race relations in the U.S. towards the end of the ’60s. If you missed last night’s performance, we have you covered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0-9IgVRm28Jon Batiste & Stay Human have just released The Late Show EP featuring six original songs recorded at the Ed Sullivan Theater and Avatar Studios in January.