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On Feb. 9, 1964, a little band called the Beatles performed for the first time on “Ed Sullivan.” It was a rilly big shew, as Ed used to say, and it’s not even slightly hyperbolic to say that it changed pop culture forever. Half a century later, the effects of that one monumental night are still being felt.

And roughly half a century later, on Jan. 27, the Recording Academy hosted “The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute To The Beatles” at the Los Angeles Convention Center, making full use of the all-stars in town from the previous night’s Grammy Awards, including surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr themselves. The concert will air Sunday — exactly 50 years to the day, date, and time of the Fab Four’s original “Ed Sullivan Show” appearance — on Sullivan’s old network, CBS.

Among the best tributes of the night were the reunited Eurythmics doing “Fool on the Hill,” with Annie Lennox, resplendent in a floor-sweeping bronze ball gown, delivering a theatrical and borderline-unhinged performance; piano soul stylists Alicia Keys and John Legend teaming up for a positively stunning “Let It Be”; Stevie Wonder, perfectionist that he is, running through two attempts at a funky remake of “We Can Work It Out”; George Harrison’s onetime Traveling Wilburys crony Jeff Lynne and Eagles’s Joe Walsh joining George’s son Dhani for a lovely cover of “Something,” while George’s widow Olivia beamed in the audience; and another George tribute, an absolutely incendiary “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” by Joe Walsh and Gary Clark Jr., with the Foo Fighters’s Dave Grohl on drums.

Dave Grohl also got in the best Beatles-fanboy speech of the night, when he told the audience: “I can really say if it weren’t for the Beatles, I would not be a musician … [they’re] my mom’s favorite band, my favorite band, and now my daughter’s favorite band.” It was the perfect introduction for his unexpected performance of “Hey Bulldog,” which he called the Beatles’ “quintessential rocker,” with Jeff Lynne. Also onstage: possibly the best “house band” ever, with a lineup that included Peter Frampton, Don Was, Steve Lukather, the Wallflowers’ Rami Jaffee, and “The Voice”/”20 Feet From Stardom” powerhouse backup singer Judith Hill.

Paul and Ringo were the men of the hour; to watch all of this unfold knowing that they were up there in the front row, enjoying the show with their respective wives, Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison, was downright goosebump-inducing for the civilians in the crowd. And when Paul and Ringo finally took the stage at the end of the night, those goosebumps only got, well, goosebumpier.

First up was solo Ringo (“What a thrill following Stevie Wonder!” he gushed), singing Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox” and the Shirelles’ “Boys” before leading the audience in a psychedelic singalong of “Yellow Submarine,” which he explained was his daughter’s song request. As Ringo spotted fellow drummer Dave Grohl sitting the audience with his own family, Ringo shouted, mid-song: “Is that your daughter? Beautiful!” Aw.

The only thing that could top that was a set by Sir Paul, who hit the stage with his own band to run through “Magical Mystery Tour,” “Birthday,” “Get Back,” and “I Saw Her Standing There.” Then, as Paul neared the end of “Sgt. Pepper” and segued into the “Billlllyyyyyy Shearrrrrs” intro of “With a Little From My Friends,” spectators braced themselves for the closest thing to a Beatles reunion that the world will ever see…as Ringo came out to sing the lead. (Let’s assume no one was hoping or expecting that the aforementioned Peter Frampton would come out to reenact the “With a Little Help” scene from that doomed 1978 “Sgt. Pepper” movie.)

The Beatles made waves back on that special day on February 4, 1964 and still made waves now. Even though not all members of the group were there to share this fantastic moment the Beatles will always be remembered as the ones who paved the way for new music and Rock & Roll into the new age.