Bruce Boyd
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3/24/2008 6:26:13 PM
Another One Gone
Neil Aspinall, a long-time friend of the Beatles who managed their business enterprises and helped make the group a moneymaking phenomenon decades after they split up, has died at the age of 66.
Aspinall's death was announced in a statement from surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, and the band's Apple Corps Ltd company.
Aspinall died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York City, where he had been receiving treatment for lung cancer, according to Geoff Baker, who formerly represented both Aspinall and Apple Corps.
Aspinall's wife Suzy and five children were by his side; McCartney visited him before his death.
He went to school with McCartney and Harrison at the Liverpool Institute for Boys.
While he did not contribute musically, he played several key roles in support of the Beatles, most notably as the head of their Apple Corps business, which oversaw the commercial concerns of the group, including licensing.
Aspinall was known by some in the industry as the real "Fifth Beatle".
"I've known Neil many years and he was a good friend. We were blessed to have him in our lives and he will be missed," Starr said in a statement.
Aspinall was the Beatles' first road manager and would drive them to gigs in his van. He later became their personal assistant, and in 1968, he took over the management of Apple Corps and continued to oversee the growth of the Beatles, even after they broke up in 1970.
Taking on the Apple Corps role on the condition that he would do it "only until they found someone else", he quit it only last year.
As head of Apple Corps, Aspinall was executive producer of the hugely successful Beatles Anthology album and was behind other successes, including the Beatles One album and the recent Cirque du Soleil production Love, which has been a hit in Las Vegas.
"As a loyal friend, confidant and chief executive, Neil's trusting stewardship and guidance has left a far-reaching legacy for generations to come," the band's statement said.
"All his friends and loved ones will greatly miss him but will always retain the fondest memories of a great man."
Apple Corps said that during the past 20 years that he ran the company, the Beatles sold more than 70 million albums.
In later years, he led Apple's legal dispute with Apple computers over logo rights, and a royalties dispute between the band and EMI.
He had a reputation for being extremely hard-nosed in business, fiercely loyal to the band and reluctant to speak to the media.
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