On this day in 1968, The Bee Gees made their first appearance on American television

The band had originally been planning to visit the US to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1965, as told by a Sydney newspaper that ran a story on the fresh group. That appearance however ended up being delayed and cancelled until nearly four years later.

The band later stated how quickly success came for the group, coming from Brisbane, Australia only months earlier, they suddenly began traveling first class, staying in luxury hotels and performing in New York. The Ed Sullivan Show appearance demonstrated how much the bands status had changed.

Though the visit wasn’t a long one, it was important for the band as it allowed them to introduce their music to the mainstream consumers in America, an essential component of a successful music career at that point. Soon after their appearance where they played two new songs Words and To Love Somebody, their second album Horizontal was released and the band reaped the rewards as it quickly reached number 12 in the US and number 16 in the UK.