As Paul joined John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in waving goodbye to UK shores, it would have been impossible for them to know how quickly their lives would change. By April 1964, The Beatles would be holding the top five spots on the Billboard 100 charts – a feat that has never been matched. In that year alone, they were reported to have made $25million (£19.3million), the equivalent of $188m (£145million) in today’s money. But rewind two days before their groundbreaking performance on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ the band appeared exceptionally calm.
The unseen photograph from February 7, 1964, showed Paul standing in the departure lounge of London’s Heathrow Airport.
This would be the band’s first chance to cross the pond and launch their US success.
In the image – unearthed in the Daily Mirror’s picture archive – Paul can be seen dressed in a dark suit and tie with a light shirt.
It was reported that a moment before the picture was taken he said: “Cheerio England”.
With a glass raised to the camera, he appeared to be smiling as he celebrated what would soon become The Beatles’ big break.
They made the 3,440 mile journey to New York’s John F Kennedy airport, two days ahead of their big performance.
Now stateside, the group pulled cheeky poses in Central Park and appeared to be able to hide the pressure mounding up on them.
Their single ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was at number one in the US charts and ‘She Loves You’ was at number three.
Their performance on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ would go onto be watched by 73 million viewers, which at the time, was a record breaking moment for TV.
It was believed that 45.3 percent of all US households tuned into the CBS show that night.
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During the rehearsal for their big performance, George Harrison was so bedridden that roadie Neil Aspinall stood in.
But he later rejoined Paul, John and Ringo for the live show.
In addition to their two singles in the chart, they would also play ‘All My Loving’, ‘Till There was You’ and ‘I Saw Her Standing There’.
In total The Beatles would sell a total of 1.6 billion singles and 183 million albums in the US alone.
