British Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes to the producer, who signed up the Beatles when he was the head of the Parlophone label after hearing their demo record in 1962.
“Sir George Martin was a giant of music — working with the Fab Four to create the world’s most enduring pop music,” Cameron wrote on Twitter.
The producer, who signed up the Beatles after hearing their demo record in 1962, was so essential to the band’s success that he was nicknamed the “Fifth Beatle”.
“R.I.P. George Martin. I’m so gutted I don’t have many words. Thinking of Judy and Giles and family,” late band member John Lennon’s son Sean wrote on Instagram, referring to Martin’s wife and one of his four children.
Martin was born in January 1926, a carpenter’s son from north London.
After serving in the Second World War, he studied at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and began playing the oboe in bars and clubs around London.
His first job was in the BBC’s music library.
He then joined the record label Parlophone, a division of EMI, and rose to become its head by 1955 at the age of just 29.
First single ‘pretty poor’
Martin quickly realised the Beatles’ potential after first hearing them in 1962.
Martin was born in January 1926, a carpenter’s son from north London.
After serving in the Second World War, he studied at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and began playing the oboe in bars and clubs around London.
His first job was in the BBC’s music library.
He then joined the record label Parlophone, a division of EMI, and rose to become its head by 1955 at the age of just 29.
First single ‘pretty poor’
Martin quickly realised the Beatles’ potential after first hearing them in 1962.
