George Martin, lovingly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle," has died. He was 90 years old.
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr took to Twitter to share the sad news, which was confirmed by a representative from the Universal Music Group.
Martin was born in Highbury, London on Jan. 3, 1926. Like many children, he took part in a few piano lessons but mostly learned how to play by himself, fueled by "fantasies of being the next Rachmaninoff." He studied music further after leaving the Royal Navy in 1947 and joined EMI's Parlophone Records in 1950.
It was in 1962 when he met The Beatles. Martin wasn't particularly blown away by the group and was more impressed by their personality than their musicality. Nevertheless, he signed them on and became The Beatles' closest collaborator.
In "All You Need Is Ears," an autobiography he released in 1979, Martin described his relationship with the band, chronicling their discovery and the creative process they followed. He produced almost all of their music, including The Beatles' biggest hits like "Love Me Do," "Eleanor Rigby" and "Yesterday."
When he wasn't with The Beatles, Martin was producing records for pop acts in Britain like Shirley Bassey, Gerry and the Pacemakers and Cilla Black.
The producer slowly eased into retirement as he gradually lost his hearing, but not before rendering one of his best works: Elton John's "Candle in the Wind," which was released in 1997 and went on to become the best-selling single of all time.
Martin also received an Academy Award nomination for his work on "A Hard Day's Night, the 1964 classic directed by Richard Lester, and two Grammys for helping develop "Love," a Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil show inspired by the Beatles.
According to John Whittingdale, Britain's culture minister, Martin was the "elder statesman of British pop music and creative genius."
Aside from Ringo Starr, others in the music paid their tributes to Martin on Twitter. John Lennon's son with Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon, took to Instagram to bid farewell to the Fifth Beatle.
