Explore the concert that despite all odds pulled together to become one of the most important days in rock and roll history.
Revival 69: The Concert that Rocked the World airs Saturday, August 31 at 3 p.m. on WXXI-TV .
Young, scrappy concert promoter John Brower put his life on the line (literally) to turn his failing Toronto Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival into a one-day event, later coined in rock mythology as “the second most important event in rock n’ roll history.”
The festival united rock legends like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, and Gene Vincent with The Doors, the biggest band in the world. But the 11th-hour arrival of John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band ignited a seminal moment for the 20,000 fans at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium, triggering Lennon’s final decision to leave the Beatles forever.