From The Beatles to Queen: The 10 most iconic televised band performances
Since the rock and roll explosion in the 1950s, music fans have been treated to various iconic televised performances. Whether it be the likes of Elvis Presley in the monochromatic heyday of variety shows to recent headliners of Glastonbury Festival, the list of memorable broadcasted performances by musicians is extensive. These can come in many forms, from the flawless to the shocking, and can often help to cement an act’s place in history.
From awards ceremonies to long-running cultural institutions, many platforms have given a host of prominent names the medium from which to galvanise audiences or, on some rarer occasions, cause utter fury. Nevertheless, such is the nature of music; it is an inherently polarising force due to its link to subjectivity.
Concentrating solely on the band facet of music, many favourites have used the gogglebox to spread their message and establish a legend. Whether it be The Beatles or more cult acts such as At The Drive-In, over the years, we’ve seen a plethora of outfits write history in just a handful of minutes, live, and before our very eyes.
Following this thought trail, we’ve decided to look at some of the most unforgettable televised performances bands have ever delivered. Primarily found in the genre of rock, many contenders lodge solid claims, but we’ve trimmed it down to the ten most iconic, with some so impactful that they’ve even changed the trajectory of culture. From the weird to the wonderful, this list encompasses all. Expect to be entertained.
Find our list of the ten most iconic televised band performances below.
The 10 most iconic televised band performances:
10. Queen – Live Aid (1985)
Queen were at the peak of their powers in 1985. When they were enlisted to perform at Bob Geldof’s charity bonanza Live Aid, they stole the show, despite other heavyweights such as U2 and Elton John appearing. Delivering a short set that included fan favourites such as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Radio Ga Ga’, it would instantly be recorded as an iconic flourish.
Effervescent frontman Freddie Mercury gave the performance of his life that day, with his energetic showmanship augmented by the undoubted power of his voice. Backing him, the band, comprised of guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor, were also on heat and were as tight as possible. Of the significance of the broadcast, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl would later recall: “They walked away with the greatest band you’ve ever seen in your life.”
9. Fear – Saturday Night Live (1981)
After former Saturday Night Live star John Belushi left the show for a glittering Hollywood career in the early 1980s, the producers eventually asked him back for a guest appearance. He agreed to return on one condition; the musical guests for the evening be Los Angeles punks, Fear.
Not the usual household name that the show would book, with previous instalments welcoming the likes of Rod Stewart and The Kinks, this break from tradition proved to be a headache for the showrunners. The audience was teeming with punks, including Minor Threat’s Ian MacKaye, who rushed the stage and caused damage reported to be worth hundreds and thousands of dollars.
MacKaye would later say: “They said they were going to sue us and have us arrested for damages. There was so much hype about that. The New York Post reported half a million dollars worth of damages. It was nothing.”
8. The Vines – ‘Get Free’ (The Late Show with David Letterman, 2002)
Aussie rockers The Vines made a name for themselves when they first broke out in the early 2000s by instilling rock with a dose of authentic, high-octane energy. Primarily thanks to frontman Craig Nicholls, they were a refreshing act in a sea of forgettable ones, with anthems such as ‘Get Free’ and ‘Outtathaway’ remaining classics.
Following the band’s immense success, they were promptly invited onto The Late Show with David Letterman to perform ‘Get Free’ in 2002. What ensued was their most outstanding performance. It saw Nicholls lose control of himself, screaming crazily, before smashing the drum kit, writhing on the floor, and giving a ghostly “ooh” down the mic.
7. Radiohead – ‘Anyone Can Play Guitar’ (Live at The MTV Beach House, 1993)
Another outfit that has given its fair share of iconic televised performances is Oxford’s Radiohead. Although their rendition of ‘Paranoid Android’ might have been many fans’ pick, it’s not enough to beat their 1993 performance of ‘Anyone Can Play Guitar’ at MTV’s Beach House.
After a disgruntled Radiohead played their breakout hit ‘Creep’, the increasingly miffed outfit moved on to their new single ‘Anyone Can Play Guitar’. The Lucius Malfoy-looking frontman Thom Yorke delivered an unhinged turn that saw him remove his black shades towards the song’s conclusion and scream in a way expected of a patient at Bedlam.
As the song comes to an end, he decides to jump into the swimming pool, which nearly electrocutes him. Adding to the scope of the jeopardy, Yorke had to be helped out of the pool by a crew member, as his Doc Martens were weighing him down.
A brilliantly shambolic broadcast.
6. Korn – ‘Blind’ (Woodstock Festival, 1999)
Woodstock Festival 1999 was a stain on humanity for a host of reasons. The revealing HBO documentary Woodstock 99: Love, Peace and Netflix’s Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 are a must-watch for anyone, music lovers or not. A festival teeming with misogyny, sexual assaults, violence and a general lack of water, many factors converged to make the festival regretful for many of those involved.
Despite the literal hell on the ground, the festival did provide a host of iconic performances, with the pinnacle of this being when nu-metallers Korn opened their set on the East Stage with the early hit ‘Blind’. Playing to a vast crowd of the kind that nobody had ever seen before, fans go wild as the atmospheric introduction plays out, with the chiming of the cymbals and guitarist Munky strumming that famous modulated chord.
“I remember the intro,” frontman Jonathan Davis recalls in Trainwreck. “We’re walking out, I come walking out, and I see that fucking crowd. I’m like, ‘What the flying fuck?'”
“When you see it with your own eyes,” he added of the crowd’s volume and energy, “It’s just ten times more shocking.”
As Davis screams the introductory lyrics, “Are you ready?”, the carnage that ensued remains astounding.
5. The Who – ‘My Generation’ (The Smothers Brother’s Comedy Hour, 1967)
Another classic performance on TV; there was no way this wasn’t making it onto the list. In their heyday, English rockers The Who were known as one of the most ferocious live acts around, with an appetite for destruction that symbolised their generation’s challenge of the man. Although they gave many iconic televised performances, none is as scintillating as 1967’s appearance on The Smothers Brothers’ Comedy Hour.
A lip-synced performance in which the band pretended to play, things were going smoothly until The Who unleashed hell towards the end of their second song, ‘My Generation’. Before the set, drummer Keith Moon – one of rock’s greatest hellraisers – had bribed one of the stagehands to load his drum kit with explosives. However, he used ten times the expected amount.
When the track reached its climax, the explosion shocked everyone, including the band, which blew Moon from his drum riser and cut his arm with the cymbal shrapnel. Guitarist Pete Townshend’s hair was singed and his left ear ringing, with a camera and studio monitor also casualties. Demonstrating the force of the explosion, Townshend would ultimately receive permanent hearing loss in his ear.
Prior to the blast, Moon had been customarily smashing his kit to pieces anyway, with Townshend also manically stabbing his amplifier with his guitar before throwing it at it, creating a wholly chaotic scene. The cherry on the cake was that bassist John Entwistle stood stoically as the mania unfolded.
4. At The Drive-In – ‘One Armed Scissor’ (Later… with Jools Holland, 2000)
Post-hardcore legends At The Drive-In have had a storied career, with this attributed to their dynamic and unrelenting sound and the number of narcotics they used to consume. They’re a revered live band who made their name as one of the most furious out there. When the El Paso group finally made their way to the UK and were welcomed onto the BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland, the audience watched with bated breath.
Nobody could have foreseen what transpired, with the band earning kudos for royally ruffling ex-Take That singer Robbie Williams, who performed shortly after. Best described as carnage, the performance was as loose as possible. The guitars are loud and out of tune, with lead axeman Omar Rodríguez-López opting to make noise rather than melody.
Frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala also finds a chair from somewhere on set, before kicking and throwing it around, as well as crossing every inch of the stage with his acrobatic shapes. Towards the end of the song, Rodríguez decides he is done with his guitar, and flings it off into the darkness of the set, opting instead for the tambourine and some freak-out dance moves.
It transpired that the poor chair belonged to Robbie Williams. In the highlight of the moment, as the band welcomed a thunderous round of applause, a dismayed Williams – the antithesis to everything the Texans represent – leant on the piano and queried: “Can my mate have his chair back, please?”. Iconic.
3. Rage Against the Machine – ‘Killing in the Name’ (Radio 5 Live, 2009)
There’s no surprise that Rage Against the Machine is high on this list, given that they’ve weaponised the potential of the television over the years and used it to spread their stark but profound message. Whilst their efforts on SNL and Coachella in 2007 were contenders, none were as brilliant as their 2009 appearance on the BBC’s Radio 5 Live.
Famously, towards the end of 2009, RATM were locked in a tense chart battle with X Factor winner Joe McElderry to reach the Christmas number one spot in the charts. Their track ‘Killing in the Name’ was purchased by masses of fans as part of an organised campaign to stop Simon Cowell from taking home yet another Christmas winner. Duly, Radio 5 Live’s breakfast show welcomed them onto the airwaves to perform a live version of the song from their native Los Angeles.
Hosted by the somewhat vanilla duo of Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogerty, the band gave an interview highlighting the power of collective action before jumping into the track. As the piece is notorious for the final refrain, “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!” the quartet had been asked not to sing it during the performance.
However, this is Rage Against the Machine; they bow to no one. When it came to the defiant last segment, frontman Zack de la Rocha screamed the line with his middle finger repeatedly shown to the camera.
“Get rid of it!” Fogerty hilariously yells in the background. “Sorry, we needed to get rid of that because that suddenly turned into something we weren’t expecting,” she then tells listeners. “Well, we were expecting it, and we asked them not to do it, and they did it anyway.”
Attempting to exact her revenge, the miffed presenter showed her true colours when she told listeners: “So buy Joe’s records.”
RATM would have the last laugh, though. They beat McElderry to the top spot, and the performance went down in history as another demonstration of rock sticking it to the man. I can only imagine what Fogerty’s reaction to the outcome of the chart battle was.
2. Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York (1993)
Despite Nirvana purists probably raging that their sardonic appearance on Top of the Pops should have made the cut, there was only going to be one winner from the host of great TV performances. Undoubtedly the most authentic performance the grunge pioneers shared, regaling fans with a mix of favourites and covers, it is also one of the final performances that frontman Kurt Cobain gave before his suicide in April 1994.
Added to the historic nature of this performance, it saw MTV Unplugged break from tradition. In doing so, the band played a set comprised of mainly lesser-known cuts and covers of pieces by their heroes, such as David Bowie, The Vaselines, Leadbelly and Meat Puppets.
Augmenting this break from the programme’s standard, the performance was not entirely acoustic either, with Nirvana using electric amplification and guitar effects. Joined by touring guitarist Pat Smear, cellist Lori Goldston, and the Kirkwood brothers from the Meat Puppets, this is the finest collaborative effort ever televised.
Comprised of highlights, from the timeless cover of Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ to ‘About a Girl’, this last hurrah from Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl will live on forever.
1. The Beatles – The Ed Sullivan Show (1964)
Sorry to the people who thought it should be any other, but no televised band performance is as iconic as The Beatles’ debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The moment that broke the Liverpudlians to America and the rest of the world, afterwards, they would become the most prominent group on Earth. All the artistic heights that followed can be traced back to this.
Akin to the big bang of music, without this grainy black-and-white set, it is certain that music and broader culture would not be the same today. After the Fab Four performed the classics, ‘All My Loving’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Saw Her Standing There’, and ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, life was never the same again for anyone.
Paul McCartney would later remember in Anthology: “73million people were reported to have watched the first show. It is still supposed to be one of the largest viewing audiences ever in the States.”
He continued: “It was very important. We came out of nowhere with funny hair, looking like marionettes or something. That was very influential. I think that was really one of the big things that broke us – the hairdo more than the music, originally. A lot of people’s fathers had wanted to turn us off. They told their kids, ‘Don’t be fooled, they’re wearing wigs.'”
Just listen to the screech of the audience when Sullivan announces the band; it’s enough to rupture eardrums.
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