Neil Aspinall, 'the fifth Beatle', dies aged 66

[Cosmicman]

Neil Aspinall, 'the fifth Beatle', dies aged 66 - Telegraph

[megocrazy]

I thought Pete Best was considered the fifth Beatle??

[Mikey]

I thought Murray The K was the fifth Beatle

[toys2cool]

never heard of him but RIP buddy

[nvmbrsdoom5]

Oh man that's sad to hear. I was just watching the Anthology the other day and wondering what Neil has been doing as of late.

There were only two people besides the Fab Four themselves, who really knew about what it was like to experience Beatlemania firsthand, and knew about what went on behind closed doors, and that was Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans. Both of whom are now gone

[Vortigern99]

Wow, what a bummer. He was super close with the band, knew them well, and basically made them all multi-millionaires with his genius accounting skills.

Other claimants to the title "Fifth Beatle" include:

Pete Best -- as already mentioned, the band's first drummer during their days playing Hamburg and Liverpool
George Martin -- Sound Engineer and Producer (still alive!)
Stu Sutcliffe -- Original band member on the bass guitar, d. 1961
Brian Epstein -- Band Manager, d. 1967
Tony Sheridan -- Musician who used the Beatles (with Best) as his back-up band during the Hamburg days
Jimmy Nicol -- replacement drummer during the 1964 tour

... and about twenty others! Fifth Beatle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Mikey]

I personally, have always thought of Blue Meanie as the fifth Beatle

[EmergencyIan]

RIP Neil. I agree, he and Mal were the closest to knowing exactly what it was like. Those two were in the middle of everything with them (the Beatles).


- Ian

[WannabeMego]

I thought Billy Preston was the 5th Beatle

[Bill]

So long Leppo.

[Mikey]

Barry was hiding in the van

[Vortigern99]

I thought Billy Preston was the 5th Beatle

Billy Preston was the Black Beatle, you see, to distinguish him from other claimants to the title! Apparently John Lennon actually suggested Preston join the band at one point, but the other members vetoed the idea. His work on the Let it Be album remains legendary, and one wonders how history might have transpired differently had Preston indeed joined the band earlier in their career....