February 9 marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. In celebration, David Letterman, who currently occupies the Ed Sullivan Theater, has invited guests all week for Beatles-inspired performances.
Last night, The Flaming Lips teamed up with John Lennon's son Sean Lennon to perform "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" off their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The band had recently dropped a six-minute rendition of the song on Wayne Coyne's Instagram. But it's The Flaming Lips, so you know the live version is going to be better.
Coyne dressed in a frilly silver jacket and stood on a case, moving his arms like they were the wings of an LSD angel. Multicolored lights and colored ribbons decorated the stage behind him.
Lennon wore the same hat and beard his father sported on the album sleeve for Hey Jude and sang along with Coyne. When they chorus hit, silver confetti, presumably meant to be "diamonds," exploded over the band as lights flashed around them. As the band finished the song singing, "the girl with kaleidoscope eyes," they grabbed trippy eyeballs and put them up to their faces.
"That's all you need, right there," Letterman concluded.
Earlier this week, Broken Bells took the stage to play "And I Love Her" and "I Am the Walrus" with archival footage of Ringo Starr; Sting did his rendition of "Drive My Car;" and Lenny Kravitz took on "Get Back" with Paul Shaffer on keys. Tonight, Ms. Lauryn Hill will take the stage to pay tribute to the Fab Four.
CBS will also air The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles. It features Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, performing both separately and together, as well as artists including David Grohl, Katy Perry and more covering classic Beatles tunes. The show will air February 9 at 8 p.m. ET. — exactly 50 years to the date and time of the original event.
What did you think of The Flaming Lips and Sean Lennon's take on "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds?" Let us know in the comments section below!
