Fifth Beatle

"The Fifth Beatle" redirects here. For the graphic novel, see The Fifth Beatle (graphic novel).

Brian Epstein
George Martin
Derek Taylor
Neil Aspinall
Murray the K
Pete Best
Stuart Sutcliffe
Billy Preston
Various people described as the Fifth Beatle

The fifth Beatle is an informal title that has been applied to people who were at one point a member of the Beatles or who had a strong association with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

The term originated in 1964 with the American disc jockey Murray the K, who pronounced himself the "fifth Beatle" due to the amount of promotion and coverage he afforded the band on his radio program. Others referred to as the "fifth Beatle" include their original drummer, Pete Best, bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, and keyboardist Billy Preston.[1]

The band's members have offered their own views as to who should be described with the title. McCartney has said that "if anyone was the fifth Beatle", it was manager Brian Epstein (in a 1997 BBC interview)[2] and producer George Martin (in a 2016 memorial post).[3] Harrison said at the Beatles' 1988 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that there were only two "fifth Beatles": Derek Taylor, the Beatles' public relations manager, and Neil Aspinall, their road manager-turned-business-executive.[4]

  1. ^ Bates, Claire (9 March 2019). "Who most earned the title 'fifth Beatle'?". Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  2. ^ brianepstein.com: McCartney's comments about the fifth Beatle. Retrieved 12 March 2007
  3. ^ "Paul McCartney". web.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  4. ^ Du Noyer, Paul (2012). Liverpool – Wondrous Place: From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture. Virgin Digital. p. 43. ISBN 978-0753512692.