In pictures: The life of Sir George Martin
- Published
Record producer Sir George Martin, known as the "fifth Beatle", has died, aged 90. Sir George, whose production skills helped define the sound of British popular music, had a career spanning five decades.
Over his career, Sir George produced more than 700 records, wrote film scores and worked with music's greatest talents
Many stars, particularly from the world of music, have been paying tribute to Sir George, including Sean, the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, on Instagram
In his early career, Sir George worked for the BBC and then EMI records and he also released his own electronic dance single called Time Beat under the pseudonym Ray Cathode
But true success came with The Beatles, whom he guided from the early 1960s to the psychedelic years from which Sergeant Pepper emerged
But when Sir George first met the band, through Brian Epstein, he was not that impressed with their music but was won over by their humour and, after muted success with their first single Love Me Do, the band scored their first number one with Please Please Me in 1962
The Beatles and Sir George parted company with the band's break-up in 1970 but they collaborated again in 1995 - without John Lennon who was killed in New York in 1980 - on the production of a new Beatles song Free As A Bird
After The Beatles' break-up, Sir George continued to produce a range of artists via his own company, including Jeff Beck, Sir Tom Jones, Celine Dion and many more and in 1979 he also opened a studio in Montserrat in the Caribbean
Sir George was married to Judy, his second wife, since 1966 and they had two children, Giles and Lucy
In 1996 he went to Buckingham Palace to receive his knighthood
In 2006, he worked with his son Giles on a remix project of The Beatles' songs for the Cirque Du Soleil's venture with Apple and the pair produced the Love album, which contained extracts from more than 130 Beatles songs
Throughout his career, Sir George was honoured with multiple other awards including one from the Music Producers Guild for his outstanding contribution to UK music
Sir George was inducted into the UK Hall of Fame in 2006, in recognition of his enduring legacy as one of the most influential people in the history of music
- Published9 March 2016
- Published9 March 2016
- Published9 March 2016
- Published9 March 2016
