55 years ago, the Beatles made their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. 70 million people — 40.6% of the US population at the time — tuned in to watch. It’s still one of the most-watched programs in the history of American television. Last night, former Beatle Paul McCartney returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater to sit down and talk to current occupant Stephen Colbert. Probably not as many people watched that one, but it was pretty cool regardless.

Colbert devoted most of last night’s Late Show, understandably, to McCartney. McCartney had a few things to promote — a children’s book, an Abbey Road reissue — but he was really just there as a sort of royal visitation. The first thing Colbert asked was where in the theater the Beatles played. (McCartney didn’t know.) The interview went on for a long time, touching on the Beatles legacy and getting into what it was like when they first arrived in the US. (McCartney: “We were cocky gits.”)

A few months ago, the absurdly popular South Korean boy band BTS did a Beatles tribute on Colbert, recreating that moment of arrival. The members of BTS even sang a bit of the McCartney-written “Hey Jude.” And Colbert got McCartney to react: “Easy lyrics!” On a more serious tip, Colbert, who suffered great loss as a child, talked seriously with McCartney about how it affected McCartney when his mother died young.

Elsewhere in the long-for-TV interview, McCartney talked about John Lennon visiting him in his dreams. He talked about watching Jimi Hendrix cover Sgt. Pepper’s two days after the album was out. He talked about waking up with “Yesterday” already in his head. He talked about Elvis. He mentioned that the movie Yesterday was “a pretty good plug.” Really, if you care anything about popular music in the second half of the 20th century, there’s a whole lot to like in this interview. There’s also a pretty funny comedy bit about the Beatles discussing writing “Old Town Road” and “Baby Shark.” Watch McCartney’s whole appearance below.

McCartney’s book Hey Grandude! is out now via Random House. The deluxe Abbey Road anniversary edition is out 9/27, and you can pre-order it here.