Five months later, sporting capped teeth, a sharp suit, and horn-rimmed glasses, Holly debuted live on The Ed Sullivan Show. Like Elvis Presley only a year before, Holly had made it to prime time TV.

Fuhgetaboutit —you were made in the shade. Videos by American Songwriter Such was the case when acts performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, which ran on CBS from 1948 through 1971.

On Jan. 26, 1958, at 21, holding the world by the tail, Holly made his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (just over a year after Presley’s benchmark first appearance).