STUART SUTCLIFFEStuart Sutcliffe, musician and artist best known for being the original fifth Beatle, died of a brain haemorrhage on 10 April, 1962, aged just 21.He was in Hamburg at the time where he had been performing with Paul McCartney,John Lennon,George Harrisonand Pete Best.While in Germany he had struck up a relationship with photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was engaged at the time of his death.As the otherBeatlesprepared to return to Liverpool, Sutcliffe decided to stay in Hamburg with Astrid to resume his artistic studies.Born in Edinburgh on 23 June, 1940, and raised in Liverpool, Sutcliffe met Lennon at Liverpool College of Art where they became close friends. He was persuaded to take up the bass guitar in order to join The Silver Beetles as they were known then.Despite not being as musically talented as his band mates (though he did have some formal training) and being known for his aloof stage presence, highlights of Beatles concerts at the Kaiserkeller were Sutcliffe’s unconventional renditions of Love Me Tender.He was also credited with shaping the band’s image, wearing tight trousers and sunglasses on stage and being the first to adopt the mop-top haircut in the style of many German boys at the time.His painting was abstract expressionist in style and featured vivid colours and lyrical imagery. Eduardo Paolozzi said Stuart Sutcliffe was one of his best students at the Hamburg College of Art.He collapsed during an art class and was seriously ill for several months before eventually succumbing to what was revealed as cerebral paralysis, possibly caused by injuries sustained in a fight more than a year earlier in Liverpool.The Beatles paid tribute to Sutcliffe in 1967 by placing him on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
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