George Martin, the ‘fifth Beatle’, passes away at 90

Legendary British music producer George Martin, who turned the Beatles into the best-selling band in history, has died at the age of 90, his family said on Wednesday, as tributes poured in.

Beatles drummer Ringo Starr was the first to give the news, writing on Twitter: “God bless George Martin peace and love to Judy and his family... George will be missed,” alongside a black and white picture of the “Fab Four” with Martin.

Martin’s family confirmed that the producer, who helped revolutionise the sound of pop music, died at home on Tuesday, and thanked “everyone for their thoughts, prayers and messages of support”.

British Prime Minister David Cameron led praise for the producer, who signed up the young band from Liverpool when he headed 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,” Mr Cameron tweeted.

Martin’s innovative recording techniques and role as authoritarian mentor 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,” late band member John Lennon’s son Sean wrote on Instagram.

Martin was born on January 3, 1926, a carpenter’s son from north London, and learned the piano as a teenager, dreaming of becoming a composer and performer like Sergei Rachmaninov.

After serving in World War II, he studied at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and began playing the oboe in bars and clubs around London.

His first job was at 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.

Martin quickly realised the Beatles’ potential after first hearing them in 1962.

“I liked them as people apart from anything else and I was convinced that we had the makings of a hit group,” he told Melody Maker magazine in an interview. But he added: “As composers, they didn’t rate. They hadn’t shown me that they could write anything at all.”