'Fifth Beatle' George Martin dead at 90

(Image credit: Twitter/@ringostarrmusic)

last updated 9 March 2016

The "Fifth Beatle" and influential record producer George Martin has passed away at 90.

His death was confirmed Tuesday by a Universal Music Group spokesperson. Martin, who signed The Beatles to a record contract in 1962, won multiple Grammy awards, an Academy Award for the score to A Hard Day's Night, and was behind 23 No. 1 singles in the United States and 30 in the U.K. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and knighted in 1996, one year before Paul McCartney. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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