UNITED STATES:NEIL ASPINALL, a close friend of The Beatles, has died in New York of lung cancer, former band members said yesterday. He was 66.
After going to school in Liverpool with Paul McCartney and George Harrison, Aspinall became road manager and personal assistant for what was to become the most successful pop band of the 1960s.
"All his friends and loved ones will greatly miss him, but will always retain the fondest memories of a great man," McCartney, Ringo Starr and the widows of John Lennon and Harrison said in a statement released by Aspinall's family.
Aspinall fell ill with lung cancer two months ago and McCartney was reported by British media to have flown to New York to visit him on his deathbed.
He died on Sunday night at the hospital, a family spokesman said. He is survived by his wife Suzy and five children.
Last year he stepped down as chief executive of Apple Corps Ltd, which he headed since 1968 after it was formed to cover The Beatles' financial and business affairs.
Former Apple press officer Geoff Baker previously described Aspinall as "the architect of all the Beatles' success over the past 15 or 20 years".
Days after Aspinall's departure was announced, it was disclosed that The Beatles had settled a long-running £30 million royalties row with music giant EMI.
Earlier this month, there were reports that McCartney might have given the go-ahead for the band's back catalogue to be made available on digital download services "within months".
- (Reuters)