The British Invasion is a term used mainly in the United States to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the U.S.A. during the 1960s.

After first running a story on 10 December 1963, CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite on 7 February 1964 ran a story about The Beatles' United States arrival in which the correspondent said "The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania".

A few days later they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Seventy five percent of Americans watching television that night viewed their appearance thus "launching" the invasion with a massive wave of chart success that would continue until they broke up in 1970. On 4 April 1964, the Beatles held the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the only time to date that any act has accomplished this feat.

The Dave Clark 5 followed the Beatles the very next week on the Ed Sullivan show, and appeared on the Sullivan show more than any other British band, 18 times. During the next two years, The Dave Clark 5, The Animals, Manfred Mann, Peter and Gordon, Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Herman's Hermits, The Troggs, and Donovan would have one or more number one singles.