Why the Rolling Stones Changed 'Let's Spend the Night Together' on Ed Sullivan

The Ed Sullivan Show was famously squeaky-clean. In 1967, Sullivan’s censors decided “let’s spend the night together” was too sexually suggestive for Sunday evening family television. The Stones were told to either change the line or get pulled from the broadcast.

Mick Jagger complied on the spot—sort of. He sang “let’s spend some time together” instead, but the performance is legendary because he kept rolling his eyes and mugging for the camera, making it obvious he’d been forced to neuter the lyric. The band also reportedly laughed through the whole thing. Sullivan was furious backstage, but the moment became one of rock’s great acts of quiet rebellion.