Elvis Presley and The Beatles made some of their earliest television performances on the Ed Sullivan Show, spearheading the Rock & Roll movement and the British Invasion of the 50s and 60s.
Ed Sullivan was also notable for having Black performers on his show in the 1940s and 1950s, at a time when no other variety show was even thinking about it.
It first premiered on CBS as “Toast of the Town” in 1948. But by 1955, it went by the host name “The Ed Sullivan Show” until its end in 1971.
The first Black artists to appear were Bill Kenny & the Ink Spots, followed by the Ravens. These were two early Rhythm & Blues groups before the term was even used! It was called Race Music at the time.
Other early notable Black performers included his good friend Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, ‘Mr. B ‘Billy Eckstine, Pearl Bailey, Sarah Vaughan, Sammy Davis Jr., Cab Calloway, Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt, early blues musician W.C. Handy, Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, the Harlem Globetrotters, and boxing champs Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis.
Netflix documentary Sunday Best gives us a look at not only Ed Sullivan’s life, but also how he helped introduce Blacks and African Americans to the white public. Performances from early Rock & Roller Bo Diddley to one of the earliest television appearances from the young Jackson 5 are all here. The Jackson 5’s appearance helped their debut single “I Want You Back” reach number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, and their debut album hit the top five. A rarity for a Black artist, while Bo Diddley’s take was a totally different story. He played his self-titled hit song, which is not what Ed Sullivan was expecting. He was ultimately banned from the Ed Sullivan Show for future appearances; however, his performance by many was considered the first time Rock & Roll was played on television!
Also in the documentary, there are J5’s Motown labelmates Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & the Supremes and Gladys Knight & the Pips. Showstopping performers Ike & Tina Turner, Jackie Wilson and James Brown & the Famous Flames bring their act straight from the Chitlin Circuit to CBS Prime Time Television! Pianist Nat King Cole and Nina Simone show off their skills in more ways than one. Activist and singer Harry Belafonte hits the stage, and Gospel great Mahaliah Jackson brings the church into America’s home. A young Toni Harper, not widely known as the names listed here, belts her little heart out singing her rendition of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” She was a child star in the 1940s and went on to work with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Cannonball Adderly. The documentary starts with Billy Preston accompanied by Ray Charles.
While there were other variety shows at the time like American Bandstand and The Hollywood Palace, The Ed Sullivan Show was the place to be. It went off the air in 1971, just as another variety show for and by Black people, “Soul Train” made its debut.
In the 1990s, with the emergence of VHS tapes and later in the decade, the DVD, you could finally bring Ed Sullivan into your home. Remember, this was before YouTube and file sharing. Infomercials of your favorite performers were seen in the early mornings, and you could order them from the tube. I know my family had a few of them!
In recent years, television networks Decades and MeTV have run the best of The Ed Sullivan Show episodes. I did mention YouTube, well, there is a YouTube channel dedicated to The Ed Sullivan Show. The documentary could not feature everything, so the YouTube channel does just that. From appearances by comedians like Flip Wilson and Richard Pryor, to words from Coretta Scott-King, to wild performances from jazz musician Rashaan Roland Kirk, they are all on The Ed Sullivan Show’s YouTube page.
Harry Belafonte and Tito Jackson of the Jackson 5 appeared before their deaths. Also featured in interviews are Tito’s brother Jackie Jackson, Otis Williams of the Temptations, Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson, and Motown founder Berry Gordy.
Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan debut on Netflix July 21, 2025, from acclaimed director Sacha Jenkins who recently passed away in May of 2025.
