Video: 'Elton John & John Lennon - Whatever Gets You Thru The Night (Live)'

(Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, 1974, show scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. EST) — Ex-Beatle John Lennon made a surprise appearance at Elton John’s concert tonight at New York’s Madison Square Garden, fulfilling a wager between the two musicians.

Video: 'Whatever Gets You Thru The Night (Live From Madison Square Garden, USA/1974)'

Lennon had agreed to Elton’s suggestion that if Lennon’s “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” made it to number one in the charts (which it did on Nov. 16, 1974), they would perform together on this night.

Video: 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Live From Madison Square Garden, USA/1974)'

Lennon performed three songs with Elton John’s band, opening with “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” and following with versions of The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and “I Saw Her Standing There.”

Video: 'I Saw Her Standing There (Live From Madison Square Garden, USA/1974)'

It turned out to be Lennon’s last appearance before a paying audience before he was assassinated in 1980.